Hot Dry Summer

Milton Jordan

June 1, 2021

In August in this place we often resort

to naming sparse particles of mist, rain

when the city forester comes round,

as if this were a city with a forest,

reminding us watering is restricted

to two days a week before 9 a.m.

The Thursday he brought his college student

intern she politely rejected my

claims of weekend visits with distant family,

and barely damp air was inadequate 

excuse for my late afternoon schedule.

Scratching “Warning” on the face of her

citation, she delivered it with a

friendly “Y’all have a good visit, sir.” 

Milton Jordan lives in Georgetown with the musician Anne Elton Jordan. His most recent poetry collection is What the Rivers Gather, SFASU Press, 2020. Milton edited the anthology, No Season for Silence: Texas Poets and Pandemic, Kallisto Gaia Press, 2020.