3:52
Elaine Ku
August is a sleeping giant
It spews thick yellow breath over
people and shadows
Bleeds aluminum dust over
abandoned pennies and
sunflower seed shells
August opens an amber eye and
releases hungry ghosts
who consume old coffee mugs
orchestrate tiny concerts with
bloated cigarettes
and sip salad dressing smoothies of
fermented sunshine
August awakens to
Melt bicycles to the concrete
curdle children like sour milk
crush wishes up like paper and
pick fights with runaway cats
August nestles deep in my heart
It won’t let me sleep
Elaine Ku is from Hillsborough, NJ, and is currently a senior majoring in Finance with an expected graduation of Spring 2023. She loves reading and writing and had a great time exploring poetry in a class taught by Professor Fuhrman during spring 2022 semester. This poem was written for that course, and Fuhrman selected the poem for inclusion in WHR.