photo from google images
today i am remembering
running errands with my mom
in the hot summer heat
of mesa, arizona.
her hair a tight perm, my saltwater sandals,
me and amanda and our two sweaty heads.
sparky diet cokes,
and soft serve ice cream cones.
the way the heat hit when you left air conditioned buildings.
being burned by seat belt
and car seat plastic.
the hot bright sun in the light blue sky,
beating down
on bleached
white
concrete.
the aloe plant in the front yard.
cutting it open to smear
the green, green ooze
on a raw sun burn.
my dad home from work
in his dark brown suit,
today i am remembering
that i come from the sun.
today i am remembering
how i miss the desert.
photo from google images
I am from Tucson Arizona and can relate to this poem! Oh the desert is a whole different beast. The streets are empty but the swimming pools are always full : )
ReplyDelete*snaps of applause* Oh, you're making me wish it were summer...what I wouldn't give to be burned by my seatbelt right about now!
ReplyDeleteI just have to tell you that I found your blog on googles suggested blogs and I just love it. Your posts always make me laugh! I love this one because I live in the good ole AZ where we wear flip flops in the winter. AZ Rocks!
ReplyDeleteThis makes me feel hot and sweaty when I'm actually cold and freezing!
ReplyDeleteSo, Natalie, you're sick of winter too? I don't do HEAT very well (anything about 74 degrees and I start getting uncomfortable), but by mid-January, I'm always SO DONE with the winter-ness that is life in Idaho.
ReplyDeleteWHY did I move here again?
I actually have a picture of my sun-scalded legs as the wallpaper on my phone, to remind me that summer can be nearly as painful as winter.
I don't quite believe me...
Snaps for you, dear! That was a great little piece of your past to share with us.
ReplyDeleteI'm quite envious. I'm dying to head south and see the desert. I LOVE the heat, and it must be beautiful. :)
It WOULD unlock the mysteries of your soul! I feel the same whenever I go back to Portland and walk the streets I walked as a four-year-old, getting pizza with my mom after ballet and listening to Billy Joel on our car tape deck (random memories, but my earliest of the city). And I feel the same whenever I go home to good old Tualatin, which for you might lack mystery, but which for me holds years of laughter and friends and adventures and memories. Katie and I often say it's as if we can see ghosts of our childhood selves wherever we go. Karl, who grew up in Baltimore and in California and isn't nearly so attached to his hometowns as I am, sometimes resents my endless reminiscences, but he says he often envies my memories and the fact that they're so anchored to one place (and reinforced by a sibling so much like me!).
ReplyDeleteI don't really have roots, we moved far too often for my taste, so I don't know if returning home does any cosmic mystery unlocking, but it's worth trying right? Now would be a good time to visit AZ too, seeing as they are above 12 degrees. Flip flops all year long-that is a dream come true.
ReplyDeleteI'm from Florida and I soooo miss the summer...it's not the desert, and it's not brown, more green all year and humid...but I do miss that heat and summer. What I wouldn't give for the sun!
ReplyDeleteHere in Arkansas we've had colder temps than I can ever remember and, believe me, even though I'm not in a dessert, I can totally relate. Just add a little more humidity. I miss summer!
ReplyDeleteI just loved the memory you had during your childhood...don't you love exploring them? I miss summer and we don't even have the snow! A lot of fog this year which is awful!
ReplyDeleteThe desert misses you too! come home to it PLEASE!!!
ReplyDeletexoxox
"if i were to return to the place where i started/would it unlock some great truth to my soul?"
ReplyDeletegreat line.
Posting from Phoenix! It was 70 degrees today! I love your poem and your blog!
ReplyDeleteI friggin' LOVE you! Cute poem.
ReplyDelete