Poem :: Heatwave

Drip. Drip. Drip drip drip
43 degree heat too much to bear
Birds' dry beaks wide open with blank death stare
Three days relentless blast of roasted air
Drowning. Is there relief anywhere?

Drip. Drip. Drip drip drip
Flies dizzy whizzing round helter skelter 
Frantically in search of some water
These winged torpedoes become nuisances
Limp scarecrow swats in a storm incites riddance  

Drip. Drip. Drip drip drip
Salt lines train slowly down the cracked surface 
Soaking wet in this hot desolate furnace
Heat haze girdling to a point of absurd
Dried worm left by a thirsty heat stroked bird 

Drip. Drip. Drip drip drip
Lick cracked lips taste bitterly sweet
Cone three stories high is quite a feat
Billabong mirages appear hither
Disheartened when they sink into nether 

Drip. Drip. Drip drip drip
Strip. Strip. Strip strip strip 
Sticky second skin eagerly rip
Stark naked star on fire
Summer heat I fail to desire