August
by Keith Dunlap

1. August will end
2.   and all our expectations
3. die. Our chance
4.   to forge that moment
5. in the late summer
6.   sun when life
7. is darkly bright
8.   and all our perturbations
9. count as one.
10.   The transitory moods
11. never quite combine
12.   to crystallize the day.
13. A pleasurable repose
14.   seems just out of reach.
15. The water is too cold.
16.   The day too hot.
17. The children whine.
18.   Even the predicted time
19. when alone
20.   we dove beyond
21. the waves
22.   and recollected innocence,
23. floated on our backs,
24.   let briny brilliance
25. crackle and drown us out,
26.   was incomprehensible
27. and lacked sincerity
28.   which we crave
29. unable to perceive
30.   the nothing
31. which takes us in
32.   the infinity
33. in which we swim.