Late July: A Change Of Climate Poem by Janet Sillett

There is a heat haze
Across the narrow road the house has open windows but is obscured
In the park the dog casually eating leftovers
Workers stretched out in listless oblivion
The miasma a momentary disguise

There is a heat haze
Dank still air as the ice melts into a forgotten sea
Children splash in fountains on the news front page
Making waves in tepid water

We are astonished at this sudden change
My city goes quiet as the heat rises
Reminiscent of Southern Europe in mid summer
The lilies send out pungent waves across the garden path
Pollen stains on the concrete

Last summer the redwoods burnt again
A week after I left California
flames swept through the small town I stayed in
A flashback to sudden light breaking through
brightening the tourist train
Trees saved from the wanton destruction of forests display the blackening of an age old fire
But this time it risks the fragile earth itself as the trees that stand against the warming are laid bare

The land can hardly breath
We catch a glimpse of the scorched earth of Africa
But in the snatched moment in office lifts
We recall our fretful commute with a laugh

The haze now a mirage of denial
Until the storms break over the cloudless sky