Image via Unsplash |
Heat
by H. D.
O wind, rend open the heat,
cut apart the heat,
rend it to tatters.
Fruit cannot drop
through this thick air--
fruit cannot fall into heat
that presses up and blunts
the points of pears
and rounds the grapes.
Cut the heat--
plough through it,
turning it on either side
of your path.
I know I have no right to complain. A tornado hasn't ripped through my neighborhood, floods haven't crept to my doorstep, there's no tropical storm headed my way, and even though it's not working very well, my school has some semblance of air conditioning.
But DANG it's been hot. And sweaty, sweaty humid. I'm SO ready for fall...
Heidi has the roundup this week at her juicy little universe.
Oh, MaryLee! May you cool down! I need to paint our third floor apartment...no air...and I am putting it off until a few cool ones come. Hugs! xx
ReplyDeleteAnd here I am, with slightly numbed fingers that are inhibiting my ability to type with speed and accuracy. Not frozen. But cold. Your heat would warm my chill and vice versa.
ReplyDeleteOh, I remember that kind of heat in NYC. Blech. And H.D. seems just as desperate as you in this poem! I love this: "that presses up and blunts / the points of pears" - fabulous! Stay cool, Mary Lee!
ReplyDeletePerhaps the seasons are nature's way of appeasing us. Just when our complaints crescendo, the slow sing of the pendulum back toward the opposite.
ReplyDeleteMost of the summer weather has been wonderful where I live--but we have had several days of high heat and humidity of late. So glad I'm not in a classroom teaching!
ReplyDeleteWe had a tornado warning here this week. It actually touched down in Concord. Fortunately, it missed us.
Stay cool!
ReplyDeleteCool surely is on its way. It arrived here a few days ago, but it is supposed to warm up by Sunday. We've had quite a lot of heat, too! Glad for the AC at school!
ReplyDeleteNature has been heating up the states with all sorts of mischief, Mary Lee. Stay cool and good luck with your year.
ReplyDeleteMe, too! High 80s is a relief. Fall, please come soon.
ReplyDeleteWith the heat and humidity pressing in today (AGAIN!) , I found it hard to look at your image but easy to sympathize with HD's heartfelt plea and your discomfort. Summer heat is a misery to me. Hoping it cools down soon...
ReplyDeleteWe're on the same wave-length this week, Mary Lee.
ReplyDeleteSome of the hot winds we have had are worse than the still hot air. No rending going on at all!
Oh Mary Lee, you don't need to convince this (central) Floridian about how miserable it is! While hot and humid is more or less the summer norm here, it's been positively unrelenting this year– I'm so over it!
ReplyDeleteEven we, who you Americans would think of as living in the frozen northern hinterlands, are sweltering. But I did enjoy the poem in all its thick, heavy hotness.
ReplyDeleteAugust is just down right oppressive everywhere. Let's hear it for September. James Taylor has a nice song about September.
ReplyDeleteWe had a few cooler days and now our heat feels solid and plowable again. I find that my bike cuts through it quite nicely!
ReplyDeleteAll I can think is "true dat"
ReplyDeleteOh, my goodness. August can be a cooker with a vendetta. Wishing you some cool breezes that you feel first on your face. Enjoy the air conditioning when you can....and I will mark this page for a winter day when I wear my woolies to walk the dog ;)
Here too! Thanks for this!
ReplyDeleteOh I hate heat! And with questionable AC and kids, ACK! Wishing you cool September breezes.
ReplyDeleteCompletely agree! Can't wait to huddle around a fire like that one. Thanks, Mary Lee!
ReplyDeleteSending you cooling thoughts, Mary Lee. At this point in the summer, I, too, am done with the heat, but unfortunately the heat isn't done with me. We've got at least a month (or two) to go before we cool off here in the desert. Ugh. =)
ReplyDelete