New Orleans Heat

The world unravels in thick, blistered breaths.  

Air hangs heavy, slapping like wet canvas.  

Sidewalks shimmer, trembling under the sun's stare.  

Even shadows forget their cool allegiance.  

New Orleans exhales in slow, syrupy sighs.  

Every street corner smells of rubber's cry,  

melting into riverwater and bittersweet sweat.  

Humidity doesn't waltz—it devours whole.  

Children's laughter wilts before it reaches the curb.  

Ice cream transmutes to soup in waiting hands.  

Concrete sags, exhausted under the boiling sky.  

It's the kind of heat that softens steel dreams.  

Inside, fans groan with futile conviction.  

Bodies press against windows for breezes  

that never come. The horizon wavers,  

a mirage we dare not touch.  

Even time seems to bend, drooping  

under the weight of this liquid blaze.  

Days blur, skin damp, survival crawling.  

Still, cicadas sing. Like they’ve never known better.