The Anger of a Slapped Sky
by Gary D. Grossman
Who can say exactly what we’ve done to bring down four inches of July sky in the last two hours of this bread-mold morning, or if it’s anything more than our inherent Narcissus, recumbent and gaze-fixed on a swirl of easy-open plastic bags and Freon-cooled oxygen. We didn’t really know, or did we? I remain an optimist, and leg-it to the Piggly whenever lettuce is remembered—hoping small personal acts are not too little-late, even as the clang of drops on drops pulls my gaze out the sun-room window. Here in Georgia, back-sliders face a special hell—one that boils souls of even church-forged steel. In penance, I walk everywhere; feet echoing residents of each neighborhood abode. Recycling even my exhalations, I hold July thermostat at sweaty 80, and repent indiscretions of omission and commission, in the hope these contritions lure only sufficient rain to heal the dry throats of our streams.
Gary Grossman, Professor Emeritus of Ecology, University of Georgia, has poems, short fiction and essays in 47 literary reviews. His work has been nominated for inclusion in The Best Small Fictions and Pushcart Prize for 2023. For 10 years Gary wrote “Ask Dr. Trout” for American Angler Magazine. Gary’s poetry books Lyrical Years (2023, Kelsay), What I Meant to Say Was… (2023, Impspired Press), and graphic memoir My Life in Fish—One Scientist’s Journey… (2023, Impspired) all may be purchased from Amazon.