Shorts in January

it should be colder
this winter
no wind whips by

i saw a girl walking downtown today
in shorts
it is january

six months from now
i expect that we will all be hoarding water
putting bricks in toilets
like so much rusted water
with little signs about yellow and mellow

but today, i too pulled out my shorts
a tribute to global warming


How can this be?  We are so warm and much of the rest of the country is frozen. They used the term "drought" for the first time this week in a long time. I expect we will hear much more of it---

copyright/all rights reserved Audrey Howitt 2014