chicago broke 60 degrees today

for the first time this year
and i felt the warm air in my lungs
as soon as
i left my school's heated building.

i drove home.
with my window open.
i heard the warm air.

home, i changed clothes,
then we went for that walk,
that first walk of the year,
where we saw the warm air
littered
with paper,
newspapers,
parking tickets,
plastic bottles,
and junk mail catalogs filled with merchandise
too expensive
for unemployed
chicagoans
to afford.

but they can taste
free
stale
gasoline
flavored
warm
air.