heat flow

city of open windows

there’s a campsite along the Mississippi

right near downtown

it’s hidden in the wilderness of my dreams

the beach is sheltered like a cove

there’s plenty of driftwood for fires

the fishing has been plentiful, delicious

every night i watch the river flow past me and fall asleep

in your cool summer breeze

i get so lost in the big thunderclouds growing over your skylines

blown in on your cool summer breeze 

you have grown so dank, thick and green

those fat cold drops coming down on schedule

slapping my silent window a.c.  

splashing through my open windows all summer long

laying there in your cool summer breeze

wide awake at 3 in the morning, thinking about

how to have my father’s life

now, in this world

better than he had all those years ago

your cool summer breeze makes me think

there’s some huge ocean nearby

blowing onshore every night

giant waves rolling across these great plains

of innocence, optimism, empty store fronts and empty lots

so much room to put down roots and grow

and so many back breaking dead ends that swirl endlessly in dirty river foam

i’m just trying to find my campsite along the river

so i bike down your tree lined avenues in north east

big beautiful trees arching over me at dusk

and i notice all the bungalows like my grandpa’s

with front porches like my grandpa’s

facing streets like my grandpa’s

he never even lived here

but it makes me start searching around for

for sale signs every time i return

praying they don’t say “sold”

before my plan to buy can even form

at least i never have to wonder

because lovers strip each other naked

just inside the open doors of balconies

just inside all those open windows

making sweet love all night

there in the dark, where no one can see 

in your cool summer breeze

i’m not the only one to feel you on my skin

city of open windows

when i feel closed up, trapped and sweating

when i’m freezing in the cold dark of an impossible situation

my campsite abandoned

i’ll imagine your cool summer breeze

blowing down all your streets

through all those bungalows

through all those open windows

across all those porches, balconies, dirty sofas and beds

over body and skin

into dreams