Armchair microclimate edges the calendar

closer to buttonhole freedom;

strawberry daybreak laces

the benchmark sunspot skyline

with early risers and backdrop morning glory,

a lifeboat gridiron of perfect Sundays

conjured by goose-bone divination

tugging on the wishbone of a bounce back season.

Selected as one of New York’s best emerging poets in 2019 and nominated for a 2020 Pushcart Prize, Wayne Mennecke is also an award-winning science teacher at Islip High School where he teaches Science Research, AP Biology, and Anatomy & Physiology.  His poetry has appeared in numerous online and print journals and the environmental anthology Fracture:  Essays, Poems and Stories on Fracking in America.  His chapbooks Pencils Down and Hypochondria recount his experiences teaching high school science on Long Island.