Simmer

Waking up

Panicked

in a rush in the morning

because you slept through your alarm

to realize that you don’t need to leave for school
Jumping into cold 

muddy pond water to hide from the heat. 

Camping in the woods with friends

telling stories

until we’re all terrified of every rustle of leaves

and every scratch from a squirrel.

Summer camps that you wait for with so much anticipation 

they feel like they will never come 

until they're over.
Never being able to escape 

stinging bites from mosquitoes

and being so excited for winter so they will go away. 

Getting mad

when you see back to school supplies and clothes ads in July. 
But 

What if

Every day is summer

bugs and ticks everywhere

it's always hot 

trying to camp in the woods but then realizing

the woods are not the same anymore 

You can’t hear squirrels scratching

or fireflies buzzing

there is even more fire

even more animals going extinct

No more skiing or snowboarding because there is no more snow

All because we are too afraid to change how we live

too afraid to stop using as much plastic

too afraid to stop talking about what we are doing and actually act on it

and too afraid to learn enough about how our actions affect the environment to change anything. If we keep hiding from climate change

what will happen when we wake up and it's summer

in January