Author’s note: As a teen, I found heat intoxicating, titillating, and a fine metaphor. Today, I continue to explore its effects.
1.
Languid in the melting heat, I sit under the sun’s intense gaze
Wondering if the tension so palpable in the air will uncoil.
As the bright sun blazing paints the sky around me with haze
My ease is complicated as the temperature threatens to roil.
My leisure is lazy, relaxed, yet uncertain, delicate, dimmed
By the light so fiercely and passionately around me rimmed
2.
Cool spots are hot spots
When the temperature rises
A breeze hits the spot
While the sun blazes
Winds off the river
Fan the air and take
The edge off the heat
Breezing by they deliver
Just enough to slake
The passions that fill the air
3.
Nowhere to go, just sit, bask in the sun’s glory,
So bright, so hot, enjoy its sizzling beauty,
The temperature rises until the air swathes
Engulfing, encompassing, holding tight
Heat defines you on these days
The blue skies creased in haze
It’s tropical and we don’t live in the tropics
Humid by any definition, heat is a hot topic
Nowhere to go, just bask
No rush, just relax
4.
Heat on your skin is languourous,
Even sexy. As the weather turns so
Hot, you don’t want to move, or if
You must, move ever so slowly
Each step an intent. Your intension
To be still and let the air soak you,
It’s tensions coiled like the sweltering
Sun, every movement defining muscles,
Each breath shallow, your body unfurling
Like the flag on the 4th of July, measures
The rising temperature, and relaxes into
The bright hot air. There is no rush, no
Hurry. Take in each breath, but do not
Gulp the air, you should not swallow the heat
Let your body enjoy the engulfing heat, your
Skin damp with effortless sweat
5.
Made in the shade
Grilling, baking, broiling,
That’s good for meat,
You need to be chillin’
