Summer

The sunflowers reach

stretch upwards toward the sky

towering overhead as their blooms break open

illuminating their golden rays

The sweltering heat

stops me in my path.

I try to wade through

the thick, heavy air

My lungs swell,

searching for fresh oxygen

instead met with a stinging blow dryer

The sun rises and sets,

But Hades has settled here.

Our appliances give us false hope.

I hideout, take cool showers, recline on my couch.

But once I open my door, my nose is stung with fire

my pores sweat

and I think,

this must be the Hell Fire in which they all speak.

I glance out my window at the giant yellow flowers.

Once erect and strong Goliaths

Now appear as weak old men

Hunching in defeat below the sun.

I turn away, opening the faucet

to let the cool water wash over my hands

and I think, with a glimmer of doubt

one day this too shall pass