Friendly Skies

What if I were thirsty and 7-11
ran out of styro cups?

What will hold the overflow
of words, stinging to the ears?

This is an escalation
of the weather's status.

In Manila, a government man aimed
his thermometer gun

to those out in the sun too long.
Its laser hit a forehead.

But this is not Iran
where standing up could fetch

a stray bullet
from a hostile sky.

Get out into this rain,
umbrella-less, to be counted

as ex-warm bodies
under this red-shifting sky.

If I were in Boston,
I would say,

'The snow has mixed
with mud'.