Haze

the clouds hang low 

longing to touch the buildings stretching up into their midst

tightening the air, tense between them and the world is filtered through a warmth 

unattainable 

golden 

cartoonish heat lines hover above the asphalt and voices are baked into the still air

the streets, lined with life 

are a body heat resistance that the newcomers don’t understand 

from the quiet indoors 

everything is slow 

an orange love affair

brushing me with a wave 

too heavy to be a breeze

salty sweat stinging my tongue with a kiss

or is it the ocean? this future memory 

I've lived in it before

crawled into it, hibernated in it

so, I smile coyly as it chokes me 

suffocating 

in the embrace of my fantasy 

I whisper into the void: you’re all I’ve ever wanted 

watch, as it melts me into the boiling cement 

watch, as I evaporate into the haze