Summer fades in our hearts
Though it’s still warm outside
We begin to look forward to
Autumn & beauty that coincides
The air will find a little chill
& we’ll see Winter on the attack
Soon, we’ll be yearning for heat
Wishing for seasons to cycle back
I caught you outside in your slip
The gossamer wisps within my view
A ripe side of the ever lovely
I couldn’t help but stare at you
Running through a Summer rain
Racing to the steps of a Victorian porch
Draped in a thin dress of pale tulle
The heavy heart of a burning torch
Amid the seduction of incantations
I knew your illusions were clear
Transparent upon the fresh flesh
& I thought only my intentions were sheer
I always look where no one looks
Trying to see what no one is willing to see
Saturated; glory beyond Heaven’s bounty
I’m out here shooting for immortality
Evading their ongoing tragedies
Forty summers spent down in the dirt
Withstanding the weight of apocalypse
Emerging; though slightly less overt
Blast furnace of the afternoon sun
Dali walking barefoot on Tampa’s shores
Pale riders within unabsorbed light
Embracing purity through perception’s doors
The paint of our secret love notes
But can only be read through the keyhole
Shying away from all public renditions
Her passionate words left imprinted on my soul
Summer girls/winter women
Refreshing my sullen mind
Taste of joyous inspiration
Love heightened upon rewind
Basking in the light of sunshine
Energized by glorious visions
The heat dwells deep within
Passion rising in absolute precision
Image by mskathrynne from Pixabay
A small smile
Like she always knows
More beautiful
Than any summer rose
Don’t rush me, woman
I’m making sure you’re real
The invigorating magic
Of the slow reveal
We exist in a fortuitous moment
Together in a Summery field
Sipping delightful wines
Writing verse on our intercollegiate yields
They want us to come in from the cold
But I’m not concerned about their rules
I’d rather remain isolated with you
Bosh to their arbitrary ordinances to reign in fools
Summer rain
Quiet relief from the heat of day
A respite from the din of voices
The quell in an otherwise doldrum way
Taking time to breathe the stirred air
Before the winds turn into a squall
The disruption of bored stagnation
The afternoon not so quiet after all
Tracing these feelings back
Wondering where you began to care
Why did you lose your resolve
& fall in love in the summer’s glare
A palm grove as a backdrop
Kissing quietly behind the reeds
Feeling more than you had expected
Unsure of the coming needs
Layers of sand now everywhere
Breeze feeling cool upon your bare hips
Hopeful surprises found refreshing
Nothing less than passion upon your lips
The blazing summer sun
Attacking my pigment
White thighs
Gonna need aloe vera treatment
Tender pink meat exposed
Another bout of the Irish curse
Naked flesh so easily burnt
Need to be saved by a smokin’ hot nurse
Can’t speak like that in 2022
I assure you, I truly understand
But my perverted tendencies
The truth remains; always the dirty old man
Manicured city walls
Stomping through summer puddles
Curiosities of a finer life
Scorching rays, can’t help but befuddle
Recoiling to the chaffy shade
Searching for the talisman of the storm
Knowing we’re in for a futile calm
Who could’ve predicted it’d be this warm
But we keep on pushing through
Wicking precipitation from her summer gown
Effort to remain a head above
A damn shame if we perish & drown
Image by Terri Cnudde from Pixabay
The summer is already sweltering
I’m trying to survive, so I have nothing on
The neighbor lady won’t stop staring
Perhaps I shouldn’t be out here watering my lawn

These are our summer moments
Ones they’ll never take away
The heat warming our souls
Waves of memories to close the day
Clinging to the last hours of sun
Knowing they’ll become finite
When all we really have is us
Slow dancing into the night
Look what the tide brought in
Floating back in the summer sea
Standing forthright upon the shore
Escaped, though equally free
Our lives governed by morality
No matter the direction of the days
Finding solitude a noble quest
Amidst the breeze, the palms sway
Finding refuge in my dreams
Traipsing through Baudelaire’s flowers
I sing a silent dirge to my soul
Tracing her petals within Summer’s shower
Caught in the currents of missteps
Former words no longer voiced
Lightness of a delicate vision
We heard the morning’s rain rejoice
Politely declining a dreadful umbrella
Walking out, always been man enough to weep
Soaked; tears all the way through
Drowning; maybe now the sunset will let me sleep
Hanging out a local’s joint
Homegrown & authentically bonafide
The rupture of a coming Summer
Basking in the heights of a rising tide
The heartbreak of loving a society girl
Though it’s worse when you realize
That lovely creature never lied
Image by Harmony Lawrence from Pixabay
I liked her Summer dress
A muse’s vulnerability in a pile
She spoke in perfect verse
But I loved best her smile
Waiting on a summer
Heat enough to bake my bones
Hell defined on earth
Surely we’ll need to atone
Welcome the heat
Sunshine reigning down
Everyone loses clothing
Summer finally around
Ice cold drink clinks
Leaning into my relaxing smile
Allowing for a subtle tan
Get used to it, gonna be awhile
The impossibilities of transcribing the heart
Finding the usual tricks do less than impress
Flustered; tripping over language
Like when you see Summer’s first sundress
Yet we still have to exist in nature
Bodies moving slowly as the sun rises
Love’s hibernation deliberately stretched
The disguises that passion often emphasizes
Cautiously keeping patience in this heat
As the mercury continuously expands
Rushing to the shore to discover relief
Risking the mirage & being burnt by the sand
I don’t want a sterile love
I want it real & raw
Desire to be overflowing
With the heart’s Summer thaw
Knowing a kindred soul
My kisses deliver with utmost precision
Dedicated focus toward only her
Giving a new meaning to ‘tunnel vision’
Summer’s dog days of the forgone
Experiencing a crisis of fate
Sharpening our wits on bathtub gin
Wondering if it’s worth the effort to curate
With Summer’s moonlight shining down
We’re not alive to merely appease everyone
Reminder to exist for your soul’s own sake
Basking in the fickle warmth of the rising sun
Released from those winter storms
Contending with heat & humidity down there
Be comfortable in your sovereignty
& thus release yourself from their stares
Do not double back & suffer fools
Stretch to become your complete ability
Expanding your mind to finally believe
& thus be fully & truly free
Life works a little slower in the Summer
The joys of sunshine & shade not withstanding
Leaving shoes by the riverside as we wade in
Unplugged from society, here’s a little less demanding
Summer mornings; rising without the alarm
Open the windows while we’re still in the shade
God’s fresh air can’t do any lasting harm
Yet, snuggle up close; no sense in letting this warmth fade
Waiting for lightning to strike
Within these summer storms
I’ve found a good woman
Her love keeps me nice & warm
No need to venture out there
For then we’d need to find clothes
I’m content right where I am
Watching everything from my bedroom windows
Hobnobbing on a summer’s day
Listening to a calm Pan flute
Barefooted on the peaceful grass
But this heat makes it all moot
Ignoring all the world’s hate
We choose love above all the static
Holding on for a moral life
Survival in this society is never automatic
Let us survive these dog days
The warmth still rising up to a boil
I’d rather be walking down the beach
But I’m forced to relentlessly toil
I wish to be holding your hand
As we walk in the evening’s glow
Soft words filled with eternal promises
For your love is the last I’ll ever know
Suburban arcades & record stores
Love notes left jammed in the teletype
Ancient technologies lost to whims of time
Sacrilege of consuming before it’s ripe
Littered by dreams of public-school poets
Falling to the feminine side of healing
Whose obedience to authority lingers
But only the lonely are rhymin’ & stealin’
Our literary antihero catching the cliff notes
A repressed childhood is still better by half
Trying to make up for that deleted time
But you can’t get far by writing on decaf
Standing with arms braced to the wind
Needing antiquity to know how we perform
Rolling empty dice against our loaded fates
Summer on the coast ensures the storm
Elegant evenings; long gown shimmering
Cackling & racking back the slide
Uncomfortable theories in the moonlight
Recasting guilt on the day Jesus died
Some of us aren’t natural beauties
We must rely on intellectual fortitude
Ashamed to exist outside fantasy
Wishing for a more temperate latitude
Sweat pooling under our winks & grins
With anyone else, this would be a bummer
But I can’t get enough of your adventure
Basking in the pleasantries of a hot book summer
Our fragile egos remain outright
Yet still free – not compelled by those
In the trenches we find disaster
Inspired to richly & sullenly compose
How do we heal? How do we grow?
Absorbing vibrations & her headspace blues
Redefinition of cool among the vulnerable
Rising morale since she turned off the news
Erratic dreams of dismantling love
The early signposts to the apocalypse
Gentle rise becomes glaring to our eyes
Summer mornings feel fresh on our nips
Ground control to juxtaposed fallacies
Squandering purest moments we’ll know
With no intention to rattle a dull saber
Paradise; when I only wanted a cup of joe
Cantankered nights
Relying on pure belief
Summer nights are cold
First dawn a welcomed relief
Girls with their knee-highs
Haute Couture, exposed at the side
But don’t believe everything you see
Smashed & forgotten; a murdered bride
Money left on the nightstand
A life shouldn’t be thrown away for such
Summer comes to erase memories
But down here, it doesn’t take much
She was already cast out, with her upturned jugs
A novelty for these professional suited men
They’ve wiped away (ass-print) the glass
Like she never happened, what will you do then?
Once upon a suburban street
Where we lived, loved & laughed
Summer comes early in Jax
So, this house no longer has a draft
Warmth lets me resume my natural being
Yet windows aren’t doors; they’re see-through
I strut along, giving my neighbors
A bit more than a casual view
Wash away my sins
Lightning striking us twice
Coming summer rain (soft & light)
That lovely woman – cold as ice
Yet I head for her still
Not one to be dissuaded
She’ll warm to my charms
When I leave her hair unbraided
The warmth of the First Coast has returned
But the ocean haze is beating out the sunshine
Sitting on the boardwalk, cold drink in my hand
My love reading me the pages of ‘Dandelion Wine’
Summer hasn’t arrived with its full force
In the breeze, the air cool, yet warm for March
Sideways glances, thinking of her last night
Her beauty mine to behold, her back perfectly arched
Watching children playing in the surf
These quiet beaches surrounded by thick mangroves
A wilderness of paradise’s perfect setting
Your whole life waiting for such an idyllic trove
Where there’s no concern for silly tan lines
The sunshine kissing our bodies like a magic wand
Getting lost, leaving unmentionables on the line
Removed from sight, her underbrush covered by palm fronds
It’s different once your cross into the sand
Slow your mind, pour a frozen drink & a slice of Key Lime
Colors, flavors & appetites are all enhanced down here
Mother Nature’s sun, precise remedy for the Wintertime
Image by Paul Brennan from Pixabay
Flaming sauerkraut stud muffin
A condensed version of radial glory
Knowing full well where life begins
The translucent strands of our story
Calculating Parisian jazz statistics
Veiled through the rummy, filtered grime
Distance equals an unfettered stump
When satisfaction measured in Lycra & time
Logbooks; surmounting the tepid schedule
All aboard the mourning run of the downtown train
Sunrise catching your weary eyes
Early summer rain prepositions our inaugural hurricane
*I was bogged down and couldn’t write so I just started writing nonsense until I was inspired to create something. It is what it is.
Captain Q 