96poems/mid

Mid-summer, I think
as I toss the collection
from the windowsill
into the trash,
drying apple cores,
a mango pit to plant,
avocado seeds I needed
to hold onto.

Not yet two weeks
past solstice,
earlier today
I overheard a conversation
complaining that summer
was half over.

Near midnight,
I am weeding out the house,
clipping flower stems,
scrubbing vases.

Things accumulate
then I try to eliminate,
to lighten my burden
for my passage
through the heat.

Or:
to lighten my passage
through summer’s heat.

6/30/96