the question that I posed once long ago

what sky do you see and how do you know

stays with me still after all these years

he did not dismiss it not even then

sat down beside me and aimed his gaze with mine

so that we both looked upwards

Into the endless shimmer of a hot afternoon

the horizon melting into forever

time itself turned liquid by the burning sun

our shared silence hung heavy in the air

not rent even by a mosquito’s buzz

we shrugged and went inside for a cold drink

unwilling to climb such a high brick wall

in the humid weather of a Mississippi summer