Short Thermometers Poems

Come Spring

Gnarled limbs know the pain
In the change that comes in the weather;
Once they were lithe, did graceful ballet
Tip top on a partner’s shoulder endeavor.

Thermometers climbed to new heights,
But fell frozen in the night,
Whispering, Whispering, “you’ll be all right”,
When the red buds return abloom....

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Ninety-eight point six is normal
In a human being,
Not though, on thermometers
Outdoors, which we’ve been seeing.

In people, anything above
Is fever, meaning sick,
But weather-wise, such numbers
Translate into one word – ick!

I much prefer the days in fall
Or wintertime instead,
When if my body matched 
The temps outside, I would be dead....

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For a string of warm, sunny days
   December extracts her pay
A clipper sails in from the West
   Reprieve's end, Nature's stern test

Thermometers plummet
   Mild rains, now ice and snow
You and I draw near the fireplace
   Nowhere pressing to go 

Let the wind shriek and howl
   Old Man Winter's wrath flow 
Cozy in each other's arms
   Hearth and hearts all aglow...

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~*~
~~**~~
in the desert heat
coyotes scream so wildly
echo through the sage
~*~
mercury rising
thermometers replace clocks
the burning sky melts
~*~
sunrise to sunset
blue turns pink yellow and orange
colors to behold
~*~
Arizona heat
a hundred ten in the shade
eggs fry on sidewalks
~*~
sweats beads in seconds
blister and burn in minutes
my hair is on fire
~~**~~
~*~...

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Miserable Midsummer

‘Tis midsummer, and we have no choice;
The thermometers have reached a peak,
Three digits creeping and sticking,
Air conditioners running full speed.

We look at heat waves out the window
We wait for dusk and something cold
Hope mama remembered popsicles,
And little bathers splash so bold.

We wait for the big weatherman
To say there’s a break, I smell fall,
Midsummer comes, but it will go,
And gold and red will cover all....

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When Henry's toy thermometer
Was used to check his bear
For fever, I was most surprised
That not the derriere

Nor mouth was where he placed it,
For he made it very clear
That the best place for a reading
Was inside the teddy's ear.

I was poised to thus correct him
But I realized nowadays
That we measure kids for fever
In some unexpected ways.

In my day, things sure were different.
Still, we wouldn't need a push
To insert thermometers
Into the ear and not the tush....

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Ah! Four walls, one ceiling, one floor, 
a window, two doors, one restroom
no bed, tons of roaches, one chair
no ashtrays, no TV, no radio
one leaking shower faucet
one clogged sink
one triple sofa
one fridge
one fan
Ah! 
zero flip flops
one fire extinguisher
one bookcase, two forks
two glasses, three pencils
three termites, four knives
four magazines, five socks
five strange boxes, six pears
six rat traps, seven thermometers
seven years living here, eight hours to go...

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