D.C. Buschmann

Now That Hay Fever Season Has Passed

D.C. Buschmann

I like to feel the heat bear down on my face in late fall as the breeze cools and gentles my arms while I walk a mile or two with my neighbor. I like to roll my tongue over a Tootsie Roll,

smash

it with my teeth, taste the burst of satisfaction while I read. I like the soothing view on my patio of vincas and marigolds nourished by rainwater collected in the big blue bowl bought years ago. I don't like mind-jolting racket made by lawnmowers, edging equipment, tree extractors, or root grinders. I prefer to sit in my wicker chair, absorb nature's notes and tones, watch two senior dogs chase squirrels and decipher canine codes in the grass while I attempt to simply take a moment.

D.C. Buschmann is a retired editor and reading specialist. Her poem, “Death Comes for a Friend,” was the Editor’s Choice in Poetry Quarterly, Winter 2018. Her work has been published in many journals including Kurt Vonnegut Museum and Library’s So it Goes Literary Journal, The Adirondack Review, Tipton Poetry Journal, and Red Coyote. She lives in Carmel, Indiana with husband Nick and miniature schnauzers Cupcake and Coco. Her first poetry collection, Nature: Human and Otherwise, was published in February 2021.