October 7th is the date today.
It’s Friday and the sky is hazy blue.
The temperature is high around the bay
and smoggy atmosphere obscures the view.
The garbage men will cruise our neighborhoods,
but only after poachers play their parts –
appropriating prime recycle goods
in lumpy trucks and wired shopping carts.

October 7th, I repeat within.
The weather like a mantra I recite
as I absorb the air into my skin
and memorize the weight of morning light.
For more than all, I aim to live today
without a past or future in my way.