The summer winds heat up, crossing the fields,
but here among the firs, they find some coolness
and I find respite from the baking afternoon

Of the many kinds of nourishment,
this one of taking a loved book
and going somewhere else entirely
with my mind, with my attention,
feels like the one I need today

I will want more of this –
more, perhaps, than I will choose
to think I am allowed –
For now, though, I will take it
and escape.

©Wendy Mulhern
July 20, 2020