Curtains hang limp
in the front room windows
through which no breeze
has wafted for days
only hot dead air
hangs like a lazy haze
through which seeps
the crisp sound
of sticky tires
crackling like slow-torn velcro
as cars roll sluggish
down our street
tugging at the molten tar patches
of the sizzled surface
in this freakish September bake
the gerbera daisies droop
panting in their porcelain pineapple pots
toasting on the withered wooden stoop
paint cracked and dry
scorched from neglect
even the silk plant
on the kitchen sill
seems to wilt
as perfectly
we burn a threshold
life in slow motion
as two-digit slowly rolls
into triple-digit heat
the glowing zeroes stare red
from the temperature display
like a pair of burning eyes
vacant as my baked brain
sledged with humid thoughts
I bring cool water
to moisten my sun cracked
parched lips
they do not smile
in this climate aberration
as slowly I simmer
deep in dying summer
seeking autumn’s mercy
*
Lawrence Tieke aka rtkistner © 2021
Poetry at: dVerse
That sums up perfectly where we are at right now Rob. How many fires, floods and landslides before we wake up and do something?
Lawrence and I agree, we need to act immediately. to turn this mess around.
There’s urgency displayed in your poem. The reader is able to join you with compassion. Our fall has come in intervals. I worn a beanie hat the other morning. It was chilly!
We have had high 90’s followed by low 60’s here as summer wanes. Strange year. Keep that beanie snugged down Patti… 🙂
That ending stanza brings it home. We all ask for autumn’s and nature’s mercy.
I am seeking any mercy I can find Grace, and I wish thr same to others — always!
This is excellent poetry. What a fine-tuned ear you have.
Thanks!
I can feel the heat as I read. Here on the West Coast, today we are having the first real rain we have had in a very long time. The trees ans ground are gasping in relief. Me too.
Yes Sherry, it is mice to see, feel, and hear the calm-inducing quiet rains. Here in Washington we were having temperatures near 100, followed by days in the 60’s — nights even cooler. Erratic weather patterns.
I used to love summer, but now I dread it. It’s been a mild, wet winter, and a wet spring is forecast. Which means a big fuel load for bushfire season.
Summer for me as a young person, was a joyous time Kate. Now I find it tedious, and with the ever increasing devastation caused by forest fires driven by climate change —- I find it dangerous and destructive.
Rob, you’ve expertly woven every sense into the oppressive atmosphere of this piece which I’m 99% sure is based on what you are suffering right now. The sticky tires rolling sluggishly down the street and the two red eyes of the 100 on the thermostat are haunting. I really hope it lightens up for you soon. Standing in a sprinkler outside or in a cold shower inside can really help. (I’ve done the sprinkler thing for weeks now.)
It has been so unpredictable Lisa, and when it is suffocatingly hot, my body shuts down. Miserable! Today we are enjoying wonderful occasional rain showers.
Such fine details so precisely captured! Excellent poem.
Thank you Puam.
It is hotter than ever, wetter and dryer… even colder. We have a new normal that we cannot forsee now and in the future.
The weather has lost its tether.