Summer Haze

Nothing compares to stepping outside in late afternoon and
seeing, hearing, smelling summer.
As a kid it meant freedom, three months to be
worryfree, carefree, schoolfree,
but now it symbolizes time I don't have because I have to make money,
which I also don't have.

I stepped out to get some fresh air --
I would have worn better shoes if I'd known my walk would be so long,
but I didn't know anything except
that I needed to leave my apartment right now
to avoid suffocation.

A couple on a stroll in the park, holding hands.
A couple reading together out loud, in a hammock.
A couple having a picnic under the pavilion. 

So many couples, but I'm all alone,
and I'm still suffocating.
I hope once summer ends I'll snap out of this.
It won't feel strange to say hi to the people I know
and I'll enjoy the time I spend with others.

For now, though, I'm stuck here
in the hazy
summer
air.