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Poetry Corner with Auburn Poet Laureate James Rodgers

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Hello poetry lovers! James provided us with a June poem inspired by the oppressive heat at the end of the month. We didn’t get it up, but weren’t going to let a poem languish in an inbox, so this month you get two poems. Enjoy!

June – 06/28/21

Wow!  What a week we had, with record heat, and doubling the number of triple-digit days ever recorded in the Seattle area.  Like many Pacific Northwesterners, I am not a fan of anything over 85, so 25 degrees over that was not too pleasant.  I didn’t move much on Monday [June 28th], but did have just enough energy to write a poem about the day.  These sorts of events are great options for poets to write about, as you are feeling lots of emotions and many can relate to this shared experience.  Here is mine:

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06/28/21

It’s the hottest day on record
I feel like my face just might melt
I know it is hotter elsewhere
but this is the hottest I’ve felt

There’s no wind or southerly breeze
I think even the sky’s sweating
The temperature keeps rising
I’m not sure how hot it’s getting

Triple digits, one hundred ten
and they say it could go higher
I keep wishing I was wetter
while it keeps on getting drier

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I’ve eaten up all the ice cream
even the popsicles are gone
all the windows are closed up tight
every fan in the house is on

I believe the sun is angry
This intense heat can’t be denied
We may have been vaccinated
but now we still can’t go outside

So, I’ll stay inside and keep cool
just be happy to be living
wait for the days to get less hot
maybe possibly Thanksgiving

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July: July in Seattle

Hello Poetry Lovers!  I hope everyone had a wonderful 4th of July, and is finding a way to stay cool after the crazy last few weeks.  The weather is always a fun topic for poetry, as we can all relate to it, and we have all experienced it.  It all comes down to finding a new way to say it.  I tend to lean more towards free verse for much of what I write, but sometimes a poem shows up full of rhymes, and I just have to get out of the way, and write it down.  This was one of them.  Stay cool, Auburn!

July in Seattle

There’s a breeze coming off of the water
There’s a breeze coming that’s cooling us down
We don’t need any air conditioning
As long as there’s a breeze off of the Sound

I know last week we set a new record
Temps so high our faces almost melted
We hit one hundred and ten at our house
Every degree it went up, we felt it

But we’d only hit triple digits twice
Though after last week, that number’s now five
We hit nineties less than ten times a year
We don’t need machines to keep us alive

We don’t live in Death Valley or Tucson
I’ve looked and we don’t have hot deserts here
Let’s save all our air conditioning cash
and spend it all on cold cider and beer

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