on the roof
beating the heat
watching the lightning strikes in the distance
20 degrees cooler up here
with a breeze
the hatchway feels like an open oven
hot air from the crawlspace from it
the clouds are moving back to front
a flash to the right
a flash to the left
another straight ahead
i start some calculations
draw a triangle
and find im in the middle of a triangle of electicity
this could get interesting!

the mamma cat peeks out
sniffs the air
then is up
trotting for the far edges of the roof
meowing
looking for cat cock
her heat coinciding with the heat wave
she inspects every inch of my roof
now is on the neighbors
looking at the tree
she wouldnt
would she?

i meow hornily at her
it gets her attention
she trots back
catches my lie and is off again
two rooves over
my brother brings me up another sixer
plus limes, and opener/knife
i figure if im suffering thru a hot ass night
i may as well drink stylishly
like a dude with a job
like a middle class boozehound
the recycling guys wil be surprised this week
at a finer class of empties

my brother is more of a prude
worries about the cat
worries about her reputation in the neighborhood
if she gets down she'll become the newest cat to be fed by the stripper next door
every night
at three
after shes done being all nude all the time
she calls the kitties
dumps a can on her steps
and one on the ground for her favorites
he puts the cat in the front room on the next beer run
we watch the light show
which seems closer and closer
carried on the wind
booming behind us
flashing closer
drops hit us
here comes the real break from the heat
im out of beer anyway
down the hatch we go