No Relief

This is a memory of the 1940’s and 1950’s, when I grew up in the HOT HUMID STAGNANT 95/95 (heat/humidity) Ohio River Valley summers. OPPRESSIVE! We would offten have to sleep in screened-in “summer rooms” — porches with overhead fans trying to beat the heat, that soaked your bed, while protecting yourself from the hordes of July/August mosquitos.

BE6ECEEB-9DA2-4D21-BB4F-9FCCFA3B1908

 

No Relief

~

relentless din of crawling prowling night
pours steaming through my window
midnight intrudes damp and searing
insistent

scalded air too hot and thick to breathe
a heat to suffocate
blades beat and drone overhead
promising relief
in vain

sweltered darkness lays heavy upon me
unbearable

I toss in labored half-sleep
gasping for cool relief
restless

I inhale deep to fill my lungs
seeking satisfying breath
only to bake them in cruel heat
no relief

salted droplets trace my spine
baste my neck
pool in the hollow of my fevered chest
bloom and seep
from beneath the smother
of matted soak atop my head
to weep their way ‘cross smoldering brow
into my eyes
and sting

in this nocturnal furnace
night clings and stifles
even dreams are scorched
simmering in summer

~ ~ ~

rob kistner © 2019

 

  • Click below to check out the hot times at dVerse:

    Hot time in ye ole pub tonight!