90 degrees

summer is coming
in all its entirety

it reminds me of
my time in Florida

where summer never left,
where the heat never left

nor the gnats, mosquitos
and summer flies

constantly in your face,
buzzing, stinging, biting,

fire ants, too, everyday,
everywhere you looked

everywhere you stepped,
on a personal mission

filled with a vengeance,
attacking with fury

there was always fury
in all things life

lizards ran on two legs
and hissed

the iguanas cracked
their whips

and the people,
God, the people

the people were
the worst of all

because they did
all things

angry and
half dressed

they gnawed and clawed
and bit

they ran and screamed
and cried

they fought each other
everyday

everyone out for
vengeance

against nothing
or no one at all

reeking of onions
and sweat

skin cracked
from salt

hair ruined
by wind

shirt splattered
with blood

the rain came by
like your crazy ex

your ex, well regarded
by all the men

humidity never died,
just like your grandmother

and no one could afford
to pay rent

beautiful people fighting
an ugly war

filled with vengeance
and fury and heat

and I’ve finally come
to get the gist of it

as I walk outside
in the morning

and it feels like
90 degrees

with the sun harassing
my back and chest

its rays in my eyes
so I squint

I know that summer
is near

as I slap away gnats
and summer flies

I wave to a kind neighbor,
swatting at his neck

wearing a drenched t-shirt
and cursing

he looks to me and says,
what the fuck do you want?

to which I have
no reply

I smile and think,
I want what you want

mercy, that is,
everlasting mercy

because summer
is here upon us

the day of judgment
has arrived.