Less Secretly South
sun has come well up
somewhere in the white sky
and there are mosquitoes
the guys with the asphalt paver
are singing and behind them
the children follow
just out of shouting range
poking sticks into
the melting black
they watch me careful
to see if i will tell
but i am recalling
the heavy slow texture
the hot sharp dizzying smell
the way it stays soft all summer
a responsible grownup
would yell them away
they grin and i grin back
behind the working men
conspiracy