Crape Myrtle

Oklahoma summers linger,

Hot and weary, but pieces are
Painted with red, white, purple, and pink.
Flowers fluttering in the morning breezes,

Nodding sleepy still in the afternoon heat

Notice how how they rest in sweetness

Sweet scented as roses. Stop! 

Smell the crape myrtle;

Smell the soft ruffled 

Color of summer!

Oklahoma summers dry

Grass to hay, people to weariness.

Painted with red, white, purple, and pink 

Growing in back alleyways, beside old houses, 

Outside my bedroom window, there they thrive

Ornamenting businesses; shading parking lots;

They're everywhere. Listen!

Hear them singing to the thrum of cicadas.

Hear the sweetest musical

Color of summer!