Tuesday Poem - Heatwave

The heatwave crawled over the buildings

Sagging low, draping over cars and people

Pressing down relentlessly

Not caring if it was morning, noon or night

It bore down

Heating streets and cars and buildings

Making people listless and crazy

The wind refused to blow

Refused to laugh and play and tumble

The clouds all fled the sky 

And the rain dried up to nothingness

The heatwave gloried in its dominance

Of the world below and 

Of the heavens above

A listless child tries to cry

It's so hot, it doesn't know what to do with itself

The birds have stopped flying

And the insects all went to ground

Plants shut down and cling to the promise of moisture

Fridges hum in desperation 

As cold water churns through pipes

The heatwave luxuriates in its time of dominance

Because it knows it won't last forever

But while it's here it will press every last nerve

It will destroy as many night's sleep as it can

It will lay a whole country low

Burning skins and baking hearts

Turning bright minds into soup

It revels before it must leave

Before the rain clouds muster and bring back life

Before the thunder shakes the firmament

And the lightning cracks the sky

Before the plants and the animals and the man

Can breathe and live and be again

When the heatwave says goodbye