July Midnight

Posted by Rob Kistner | Filed under Free Verse, Poetry, stream of consciousness



July Midnight

•

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

coarse whirr drones overhead
promising relief

in vain

sweltered darkness
lays heavy upon me

unbearable

I toss in labored half-sleep
gasping for cool relief

haltingly
I deep inhale to fill my lunges
only to bake them
in cruel sustaining breath
this oven to endure

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 smoldered brow
into my eyes
and sting

no respite
in this nocturne furnace

night clings
and stifles

even dreams are scorched
simmering in July

• • •

rob kistner © 2010



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Permalink | Comments (5) | Jul 7, 2010

5 Responses to “July Midnight”

  1. pamela Says:
    July 7th, 2010 at 3:13 pm

    Rob it must be really hot there!
    Well done!
    Pamela

  2. Diane Truswell Says:
    July 7th, 2010 at 6:11 pm

    I empathize, Rob. It feels the same way here. the last two lines of the poem say it all!

    http://troublebeingstrong.blogspot.com/2010/07/premonition.html

  3. Stan Ski Says:
    July 7th, 2010 at 8:43 pm

    I know the feeling well - so hot you could die of thirst, so humid you could drown on a single breath of air.

  4. Julie Jordan Scott Says:
    July 7th, 2010 at 8:53 pm

    I am so used to hot summers, I barely think about it - and the vividness of your words says it all (and more!)

  5. barbara Says:
    July 8th, 2010 at 8:26 pm

    we had three lovely days last week. I’m hanging on to that while the grass crisps.

    that ending does it.

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