Heat Wave BY: Dianne Robitaille
In the dining room the candles
melt over themselves,
sticking to the dark
tabletop.
The heat presses on.
Large pictures look down
on the motionless room.
Humidity gathers,
suspended and still.
Little moves through
its blanketing mass:
The cat
behind the small floor fan
licks her paw
and reclines in submission.
She lies against the wallboards,
waiting for the coolness to reach
into her fur.