Heat Wave

Heat Wave

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Summer weather ballyhoo rejoice heat wave, poem by Peter Menkin

This summertime poem, set in a heatwave, speaks of the joy and langour, the happiness of a hot day. Set in Marin County's Corte Madera, north of San Francisco, the work written in 2000 has backward running sentences. Do try out the audio reading to get a better feel for the rhythm of the piece. Humorous in its approach, the poem is comprised of images that set a pastoral picture after Church on a Sunday.

What does one do with a hot day, in a heatwave. One thing is visit an ice cream store. There one finds something cold and good, refreshing and pleasant. The surprising respite in the midst of the heatwave, and the festive air of the store and its many customers, including children, adds to a kind of ballyhoo celebration. One poetry critic said of another piece similar to this one, that it had the tone of a revival meeting. This one not so much a revival, but a way of enjoying a hot summer day. That is a revival of kind, is it not?

Summer weather ballyhoo rejoice heat wave
by Peter Menkin

Hot comes the days,
to languor
and avoid the warm; wait

evening after sunset
hour of cool; summer sends
messages with earlier sunset,

darker morning, laze to late
wakening and night good
with Sunday that special time.

Come festive days, wanted weather.
Straw hats, suits, shorts, lace
gown, khakis; costumed for roller
skating go the mother-daughter duo,

costumed things grown up growing.
And there the grandmother sachet for
granddaughter from the ice cream
store where flavors abide (many).

Do, yes, heat wave people talk,
eat ice cream (cones and Sundays)
yogurt, while children delight

heat wave, hot, warm today.
Two Christenings, (three months and
four years) twenty years later
dialogue of pulpits in one sermon;

many rejoinders of September
heat wave; coolness desired must.
What a good report this weather
brings in blazing ballyhoo rejoice.

 

Audio reading of poem by poet is here:

http://www.archive.org/details/SummerWeatherBallyhooRejoiceHeatWaveByPeterMenkin

 

About the Author

Peter Menkin, an aspiring poet, lives in Mill Valley, CA USA (north of San Francisco).

My blog:
http://www.petermenkin.blogspot.com

Why was 32 degrees for 3 consecutive days chosen as the threshold for a heat wave? Why not 30 degrees?

Why did they choose that specific number? 30 is considered a hot day but not a heat wave?

Just wondering because Calgary is expecting 30 today.

Like the guy above said, it's an arbitrary number chosen due to it being 90 on the F scale. 80 is too low, and 100 is too high. Although in some parts of the world, it has to be over 40 C to be considered a heatwave (104 F). It's all relative.

Weather bureau warns public on heat wave (3:04 p.m.)
MANILA -- The possibility of a heat wave hitting the country is not a far-off reality during this El Niño phenomenon, according to the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Adm read more

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