(Summer in Oslo)
They wear pale legs and scarlet glow
parading humid streets below:
a skinny youth flaps by in khaki,
cut off chinos, pockets empty;
in tight white shorts, a bearded man
flaunts a girl in turn-ups, heels and tan
while micro-denimed women wear
blue flip-flops with their crisp blonde hair.
She wears a bra and not much more,
stands watching from the 7th floor;
safe from storms that break the heat,
she cools as sweat and deluge meet.
From high-rise desks across the way
Tired men appraise what’s on display. .
Beneath the ledge, they cannot tell:
are her shorts extreme as well?