POEMS
Created: 5th May, 2023

July

One summer day I was boiled and salted

like a peanut. I was the meat

in a heat sandwich, the dog in a hot.

I was the crimson crayon

Melting in a sunny car,

the colour of firecrackers and flags

and Mars, where once the water

cooled the red stones.

 

Finally the sun set

and someone let the crickets out,

then opened the firefly jar.

The darkness filled with blinking stars

like whispers for my eyes.

 

© Ted Kooser & Connie Wanek, from Marshmallow Clouds, Walker 2022