Day: July 25, 2009

nostrils singed by scalded air
too hot and thick to breathe

haltingly
I fill my lunges
to bake them in sustaining breath
this inferno to endure

skin weeps

salted droplets trace my spine
baste my neck
gather in the hollow
of my labored chest

hesitant in its struggle

bitter beads bloom and seep
from beneath the smother
of matted soak —
ooze down fevered slope
into my eyes

…and sting

molten sphere in steaming sky
glares down

incessant

energy expires
desires evaporate

thoughts grow sticky
coated in midday

tasks at hand
plans to make
will wait

life roils slowly
simmering deep in summer

even dreams are scorched