Summer

The thundering pulse of the heat-filled sky

Rumbles on the air like an ugly breath

As I’m running through the muddled streets

Drunk on adrenalin, mumbling your name.

The thought of your love is burning in my skull

Mucking up my judgement like a drug,

And the dull fog of autumn floods my soul.

A hundred raindrops drum on the pavement

In an ominous song, hot and awful,

And the lump stuck in my gut becomes enough

To make me stumble in front of you.

You lunge on the rugged ground and I tumble, caught

By the hunger you’ve cultivated for so long.

Slumped in the gutter under the red sun,

I shudder as you rub against me in a mocking hug,

Brushing my cheek with a rough thumb.

Baby, you murmur, understand that I’ve done this for us.

You fumble with something, pull out a gun –

It jumps once, and I crumble under your touch.

Stung, stunned, struggling to crawl away from you,

Rust-colored blood rushing thickly from somewhere numb,

I huddle humbly on the oven-warm pavement

As you mutter how you’ve won and nothing

Will ever corrupt our love or cut me from you.

The rain thrums in unbroken rhythm

And the sky above hums and beckons solemnly,

Tugging at my consciousness until all else subsides

And even the sun runs cold.