The air sticks like a cheap
trick, clinging, suffocating,
muting every conversation or
thought. People shuffle slow
as molasses spilled, thick
heels dragging on broken
sidewalks. The grocery run
becomes a marathon, sweat
salt-streaking every ambition.
Ceilings fans mock the desperate,
whirling lazy circles, stirring
nothing but the stench of
mildew and regret. A dog
pants heavy on a porch, eyes
half-shut, no dreams left vast
enough to escape the dead
weight of this swampy heat.