from the western skies it came
the darkened clouds
the wind, the rain, the hail
tracked by radar
moving swiftly soon
saw emptied seats of soldier field
the moiling heavens cast
the downward spiral spinning,
churning,
ripping
minutes later – quiet rain
the twisted strip of splinters left
cannot tell the tale
cannot record the loss
cannot explain
late summer stillness
reigns today as
lazy clouds float
and break away
late summer sun
still hot
shines through
the bright and
humid warmth amid
the dimmer cool
such fading verve
of furnace blasts
seems welcome now
the worst of
summer’s heat
is past
She had a hard time with the numbers
In fact, she couldn’t do it at all.
It must have been the time of day
Or the way she wore her hair.
And it’s hard to say who was dumber
Or who looked sillier than who
As we sat on that cold cement slab
In late October –
Watching the leaves fall off the trees
The duck, coming over the sheep house,
quacked twice.
“Hello, duck,” flying high
on such a day, so nice
as this.
And he flew on by
to warmer weather south.