July in Indiana

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Holly, I love how your lipstick shines 
I think your karma has a color 
I wish we had met in the Baltimore harbor 
Chesapeake Bay was brilliant at night 

Hot and humid like insult to injury 
No more snow beneath my fingers 
Chill me out and remind me to relax 
The southern sun on my shoulders 

It’s time I called you up and said, “I’m sorry” 
It’s time you called me back and said, “Don’t worry” 

Now Christen held the spotlight 
And Oliver tried to hold his liquor 
Just long enough to help me remember 
This is how October feels 

Another seasonal surrender coming closer 
Frozen fallout under the streetlights 
The longest, coldest nights and my friend 
A white wind on my rosy cheeks 

It’s time I called you up and said, “I’m sorry” 
It’s time you called me back and said, “Don’t worry” 

Sure enough with the evening clouds 
Uneasy guts and uncertain glances 
Gary unspun my spinning head 
I miss all the kentucky rain 

I remember this one July in Indiana 
Christmas lights from a theater ceiling 
Gaudy green tomatoes on a plastic string 
To rival the jukebox dancers

 - November 2007 -                                                                     #057