Shalom Freedman (Troy New York)

There is no poem in the heat of the day-
The heat gathers up and consumes everything-
Breathing one's way through it
Is the best one can hope for -

But in the evening
And later in the night
When the relief comes
However lingering the heat is,
A desire for music and poetry
For some life for the soul
Comes again-

It is not enough to breathe
One must sing also -
It is not enough just to live
One must love and know happiness also-

Oh the heat will go on and on
And life will go on and on-
But in the nights of those already too old for love
The songs will be silent and sung only as longing-