All photographs are by Russell Bittner

J u l y

With summer in the groove,
I finally move
to kiss the kids a
rachety goodbye,

but pray our makeshift pawl
called ‘provenance’
will prove to outwit
jaundice and July

to keep their sudden stall
at ‘sustenance’
remote and safe from
one dread dragonfly

whose appetite would claim—
at least restrain—
their Maine event: our
swansong lullaby.

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