Sleep
They never kick
at the blankets
to get fast away
from a bad man
shaped like a wolf
like I watch on TV
wide awake again
letting them sleep
craving to rattle
them as unsleepy
as me all night
downstairs
locked awake—
I let them sleep
envy begrudge
deep in twin beds
facing each other
yet free to dream
of immortal days
while I walk around
our dark backyard
my robe pocket
dumb pebbles
to throw fondly
at their windows
The Hottest Day in Human History
was yesterday then today
and probably tomorrow.
Today in the living room, held hostage
by our own discomfort, my partner fanning
the cat, we binge apocalypse and lemonade
—ice clinks, glaciers melt. Sacrifice AC
says The Weather to spare our grid. Beware
the smoke-creep off some 500 wildfires
up north. Eye the sea: Rising waters
disarm some hardback book, shelved low
somewhere, its story never to be turned
into a movie. We support awareness
of poor island countries we’d not visit.
Yesterday domed us statewide, a baby
perished and various elderly, and stewing
in our own forever chemicals we drove
to the superstore for fans. Almost broke up
but it wasn’t on our to-do list, as mom
teases dad. Weather said get indoors
or else. We tossed a bitter salad, air-fried
tofu croutons, never disappointed by
the crunch. He finished his steps
on his stepper. We sat close if not quite
cuddled, adored—as he said—by our fans.
Tomorrow, our leather anniversary, really—
humidity getting into the seams of things and
we dread some dumb gag gift. We’ve all day
to thermoregulate. Our party is poolside,
8pm-Whenever. If fleas don’t take the yard.
And nobody’s died.
A. Loudermilk’s contributions to poetry date back to the 1990s when Mark Doty introduced them as a new voice in The James White Review. Their poems can be found in many publications like Tampa Review, Cream City Review, Gargoyle, Smartish Pace, Gay & Lesbian Review Worldwide, Packingtown Review, as well as their own collection Strange Valentine that won the Crab Orchard Series First Book Award. Their essays can be found in The Writer’s Chronicle, Journal of International Women’s Studies, PopMatters, and StoryQuarterly. They’ve taught creative writing at Hampshire College in Amherst and MICA (Maryland Institute College of Arts) in Baltimore.