The sun, unchained a few weeks,
direct and unapologetic.
Like me, ready to bloom.
Water surface tepid,
unfiltered rays against my cheeks.
Solar angle closes
one degree at a time,
until the heat extinguishes itself.
Wrap towel around my shoulders,
rinse my feet in water.
Cold gnaws spaces between toes.
In the distance, hills of sand
extend in all directions.
Earlier this afternoon,
I ran down the largest hill
amidst hordes of children:
more slowly than last year,
but still upright.
Swim one more hour
until the sand cools.
Place towel in the trunk,
turn ignition key. Listen
to the crunch of tires on asphalt.
Another August gone.
How many are left?
Leah Mueller is an indie writer and spoken word performer from Tacoma, Washington. She is the author of two chapbooks and four books. Her next book, Misguided Behavior, Tales of Poor Life Choices will be published by Czykmate Press in Autumn, 2019. Leah’s work appears or is forthcoming in Blunderbuss, The Spectacle, Outlook Springs, Mojave River Review, Atticus Review, Your Impossible Voice, Barnhouse, and other publications. She was a featured poet at the 2015 New York Poetry Festival, and a runner-up in the 2012 Wergle Flomp humor poetry contest.
Kristin Garth is a poet from Pensacola. Her poetry has been featured in Anti-Heroin Chic, Fourth & Sycamore, Mookychick, Moonchild Magazine, Occulum, Faded Out and many other publications. Follow her on Twitter: 
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