Drought Index
We practice assessing the thirty-year average
Points dip but keep rising the closer we go
Then lined up in bars, annual precipitation
A divot I remember. I was six? Seven?
No high-rising rivers, the heat waves unending
This year, we attest in our trial presentation
The rainfall’s much lower than normal this month
August-September, hot and dry mid-October
My lover comes home all smothered in dust
From labor, the substance which keeps the mill grinding
While curled in my classroom, I’m learning our luck
Points dip but keep rising the closer we go
Then lined up in bars, annual precipitation
A divot I remember. I was six? Seven?
No high-rising rivers, the heat waves unending
This year, we attest in our trial presentation
The rainfall’s much lower than normal this month
August-September, hot and dry mid-October
My lover comes home all smothered in dust
From labor, the substance which keeps the mill grinding
While curled in my classroom, I’m learning our luck
Hershel Burgh is a Jewish trans man based in Northwest Arkansas. His work has appeared previously in ONE ART and Ouch! A Collective. He lives with his partner in a one bedroom apartment with no drawers.