It's a strange juxtaposition of weather and holidays here. We have yet to have our first real cold front come through, so it's still quite warm for October. On the plus side, we can still swim in the pool, which we did last night after a walk to see Halloween lights and before watching It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown.
On the minus side, daytime highs near 90 and high humidity do not put me in a Halloween/All Saints mood.
The poem below was written years ago, during another annoyingly hot October, where I thought about weather and social change--and this poem emerged. It appears in my first chapbook. Enjoy!
Reformation Day
The catholic heat holds us
in a tight embrace for what seems an age.
We participate in the sacraments
designed to make us forget the hellishness
of everyday life: afternoons at the pool,
barbecues, beach trips, and for the fortunate few,
a trip to the mountains, a retreat, a pilgrimage.
We pay alms as we must: electric bills,
pool chemicals, cool treats. We pay indulgences
when we can’t avoid it: the air conditioning repair
man, the pool expert who keeps the water pure,
men versed in mysteries we cannot hope to understand.
Finally, the heat breaks. A cold front swoops
down upon us from the north country, a Reformation
bringing with it the promise of other Protestants,
more weather systems to overthrow
the ubiquitous heat, to leave
us breathless with the possibilities of change.
but bestows favor on the humble
6 months ago
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