Hot enough for even crows to go missing.
………..I’ve been digging in shadeless afternoons,

………..giving him odds and ends. The wasp in a fig.
Mollusks in shells. Lightbulb filament.

He gathers interiors and finds use but
………..does not sweat and say we can fix this.

………..The kiss at day’s end is a way
to place heirlooms on a high shelf while

ants trickle into midnight dens, envious parade
………..of scent and function and I believe

………..in them at least, electromagnetic love and order
running an empire beneath toes burnt by patio. Again

and again, open windows refuse to cool even in
………..dark hours. No one remembers where the moon

………..hides all day or for how many months
a half-eaten cake in the freezer keeps. 

– Amanda Hartzell