earth note 221

as quick as the heat came
it left
twenty-five mile gusts
from the east
sail off the gulf
as if the whitecaps
could whip up a storm
all on their own
my wheels spinning true
     growing legs of their own
a constant tailwind surges to my lower back
guessing i'm peaking near thirty miles an hour
flat out
head down
     leaving the dogs
     no time to bark

this sixty degree wakeup
     this morning
     this clarity
     this misplaced midwest autumn morning
          this reprieve
          from the tropics

--- e b bortz

(published in earth notes and other poems, Least Bittern Books, 2015)