Summer

the drinking water is at body temperature
the city is a massive beast in whose hot blood we are
drowning
swimming
drowning
wading
lounging
bathing
floating
falling
dying
and alive
so very alive
the beast moves and consciousness shifts
the heart slows and we sleep
the belly empties and we ache with subcutaneous desires

it's too hot to move
too hot to sleep
too hot to think
just hot enough to dream
and dream
and never stop dreaming
with eyes open
mind awake
body prone and wilted
limply drifting through lazy veins towards
home

home
and a vague conviction
that there was once
or will be
or is
more than this