Roulette Rudy Francisco

In one of my earliest memories,
I am eight years old,
I have a fistful of afternoon,
and I am asking the summer
if it will always be this glorious.

I remember taking a deep breath.
Trying to get as much July into my lungs
as humanly possible and thinking maybe
I'd be able to convince it that 31 days just isn't enough.

In my neighborhood,
owning a Slip 'N Slide made you a royal family.

In my neighborhood,
we'd run through sprinklers
like someone who wasn't the boss of us said we couldn't.
Back then the water seemed endless.

Like it didn't have limits
and corners and edges,
like no matter where we were,
if we called out for water,
it would always come running.

When I was a kid,
dragons and droughts
were two things I read about in books,
but never thought I'd actually have to deal with.