Summer Afternoons

by Elizabeth Sainsbury

Brown bodied

we hunted lizards

during the hottest part

of the day,

not caring, only knowing

that we wanted to hunt lizards.

Our talk of everything

talk of nothing that filtered

through the air, resting upon

kitchen windows with hot moms

at the sink, seemed to make

the dry sagebrush come alive.

We splashed in irrigation ditches

and made our worn-out Keds

slurp and gurgle.

After catching lizards (and even more

lizard tails) we’d return

home, dusty and freckled,

to show mom our treasures.

Photo by Ron Knowlton

Photo by Yvonne Wright