languid flush of streetlights here
on the summer boulevard
terracotta pots burn with pinks and
purples overflowing shop planters
and girls in shorts smoke as they stride
no secrets in this heat
flash of headlights in dusky eyes
bump bump of the beat
long fingernails
flash of fluorescence
and girls in pert shorts smoke and laugh
bump bump of the beat
open windows
guys in snappy pink and purple cars
in their orbital roar the garden
shakes here in the dark
hear the dark
the tremble of musk
like a matisse portrait not quite
aligned dig your toes into hot soil
under the flaming natal
moon

Joyce Middlestead
Copyright � 2003