Adolescence Poem by Gregory Orr

The dog barks from a cloud
after each cat passes
and a fine powder settles
on yard shrubs. In late spring
the county truck sprays
oil on the road, binding
the dust. I strip
catkins from willows
and beat the air
with insane intensity.
Reeds bending in wind;
electrical hum
from a roadside pole.
Behind the red house, gray
clouds and the rumble

of summer thunder. Above,
yellow, spiked globes swell
among the deep green
chestnut leaves. And in the hay,
can't breathe; can't
breathe in the hay. Hands
on skin; how good it feels.