THE HEAT WAVE

We talked about regrets and identity
over tepid cups of milky tea
satiated
this languid afternoon interrupted only by slamming doors.
The children came and the children went unconcerned
their wet hair fragrant with the first chlorinated taste of summer
hints of jasmine lingering in the air every time the door was left ajar.
The cats snaked back into the house flopping sloppily on cool wood floors sobered by the heat that kept us indoors watching with envy as the shadows crept across the law.
We were deceived.
The monarchs in the bushes, the breeze in the trees
There was no comfort in the garden today
Only the heat.