no a/c in august: poems by Constance Shultz

waiting in the car outside the senior center

hot on the arm
by the window
a breeze
comes in
stirs my hair

dryer air
& I can hear
a/c drones
little dogs
squeaking

a handtruck
in a semi
someone
working in
an echo place

hot on my
arm as it
burns
sweats
as heat reflects

off the
cinderblock
wall

& someone thinks
not knowing

what to do with no a/c
hwy 155

sides of grand coulee
straight & sharp
jagged

don’t-touch-it-hot
& it must be
90 or 100 out

& travelers can hear
frogs & quiet
unassuming
ducks
when cars
pass behind

when they drive
so far
to soap lake
or grand coulee

& they keep
moving up
& down
weaving 155

some don’t

some stay on
rock & listen
& look at rock
pieces under
their feet

the deer on midway avenue

3 fawns & a doe
in front of
the truck store

coming from the middle
school visiting
the hospital

everybody stop