The heat broken
A week of heat rising on cue —
white threatening oppression
unaffected by fans
and naked lethargic skin.
A week of heat increasing
like it will never leave,
until the land bakes to dust,
and shrivels away.
This morning a thin waterless fog hangs low,
as the crows talk to tall trees.
Yesterday’s dry fever lingers,
waiting.
It is enough to walk in the gray fog
and hide from brightness,
to see gravel, trees, and fence line
without glare.
This vague hint of cool promises to live on
for an hour, maybe more.
The sheltered calm is delicious.
Maybe the war is ending.
Mark Vogel has directed the Appalachian Writing Project for ten years. He is currently Professor of English at Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina. His poetry appears in Poetry Midwest, English Journal, Cape Rock, Dark Sky, Cold Mountain Review, Broken Bridge Review and other journals.