Everyday poetry

or cut non-paper coverings off of plastic bottles so that they wouldn’t gum up my county’s recycling machine, or stuff my yard clippings into very large paper bags so that they could be turned into really great mulch. Watch my water usage? And buy it in bottles? What a racket! The countries that hastened through pollution what might have been a natural swing toward planetary warmth have developed goals and policies to ameliorate and slow the situation, but probably too little too late. Some say it’s always been hot, and I do remember the first time I felt 1000 F, about 65 years ago. Air conditioning? Nah. We could deal with it. Not.

Sheryl Massaro is a Frederick poet and oil painter. She holds an MFA in creative writing from The American University. She is a recipient of one of the many stipends granted in 2022 from the National Endowment for the Arts through the Frederick Arts Council.