temperatures this week
Monday through Sunday
72, 69, 58, 31, 28, oh-no, hot damn
Welcome to Kansas
No different than the rest of the Midwest
I can hardly wait for Saturday and Sunday
If a flood is coming to Kansas, I need a boat
a seaworthy vessel big enough to rescue others
Probably a pontoon boat is the best
They do not look easy to capsize or tip
I don’t even have to own it, I can rent it
Or just borrow it; I am not picky
But you will have to deliver it if there is a flood
in Kansas, which is not real likely
in one mere week
Kansas went from the nineties down to the forties
I am zipped into my footie pajamas with two pairs of socks
I had to trade in my sandals for boots
I am not putting my shorts and t-shirts away just yet
no telling what next week will bring to Kansas
this is the Midwest
our temperatures are bi-polar
Kansas winds are slamming trees onto the ground
sheds and tractors are whisked away by a giant hand
dogs, cats and horses are being tossed above roofs
I expect to see a wizard waving from a hot air balloon
whooshing winds use trees to shout messages
leaves flutter down like dying moths landing at my feet
sparkle of day feels like a tornado warning
I sit under my tallest oak
expecting her limbs to crack and hit me in the head
on my tombstone you have my permission to engrave
Risk taker from Kansas who should have known better
near the top of my enormous oak tree
two large amber eyes are looking at me
not wanting a challenge, I try not to stare
a strong pungent odor lingers in the autumn air
witch, warrior, monkey or large puma cat?
what in Kansas am I trying not to look at?
did you see that? asks my weird cousin Pat
One leg is curled around the trunk, and boy is it fat!
sprinkles of dew drops wake up the fescue
dandelion faeries spritz across my field
rooster makes his long-lost love crowing sound
another Kansas morning in March
nowhere I would rather be today
Kansas wind picks up my notebook pages
hem of my nightie
my shoestrings are waving
the wind is more intense now
the tree limbs are swinging
my wind chimes are playing like an orchestra
birds screech as they fly toward safety
the wind comes back and picks up my cat
my dog, my chaise lounge, and my car
you did hear me say
Kansas wind
right?
my legs are warm
as if they just popped out of a toaster
it is eighty-eight degrees in Kansas
ridiculous warmth for October
there is loud obnoxious music in the distance
do these neighbors think we all share the same taste?
a few raised voices
I wonder if another neighbor has complained
it feels like August
I could fry an egg on my asphalt driveway
Kansas in late September
sixty-seven degrees
full-blown sun
whee whee wee
intense rapid bird speak
if you were Rip Van Winkle waking up after one hundred years
you would not know if it was March, May or September
not that you would care
You may have never heard of the Dragettes
Seven women who formed their own hot rod club
in Kansas City, 1959
They were all wives or sweethearts of other dragsters
Did they truly drag race?
They certainly did!
It is 7:41 p.m.
we are in the middle of the forest
in a meadow, in the country, in Kansas
unnamed insects are cheeping and buzzing
my sixty-two-foot oak is singing with sounds
a half-moon is barely visible
the sky is light, not blue, not gray
my dog nuzzles my hand
he’s a baby, needing attention
fancies that I am his mama
my older dog waits for the puppy’s cue
dog next door is still making noise
in unison they begin their neighborly barking responses
I wait for nine thousand insects to descend on my head
thinking crickets, mosquitos, ticks and locusts
the cheeping and buzzing is louder now.
we have the Kansas City Chiefs
The Royals
The fountains
and as of yesterday, Taylor Swift
We have barbeque
pork, beef, chicken
We have arts, and Midwest culture
and as of yesterday, Taylor Swift
We have parades, festivals, art fairs
and as of yesterday,
Well, you know…..
a vigilant stalk
brown guardian of the lake
kansas cattail
caw
scarecrow
stuffed straw
annoying voice
Kansas farm staple
the bird sits on dummy
overlooking sunflowers
nailed to a cheap gallows frame
farmer Jacob’s discarded clothes and straw
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