A Sudden Rain

Driving to work on a hot, September day

Mercury charges
a slap of air insults my face
stiff and unyielding
like a smothering blanket
The day swaddles me, breathless

The road attracts, it
draws me over hills and curves
the climbs are tortuous
strong as urges of
A sultry summer

A sudden sky bursts
plasters fire to the asphalt
with slick and sweet decay
pulled from tree limbs
The wind won't wait for October

The car is airborne
does not tread asphalt
the brakes may not apply
suspended above the hotplate
In this fiery September


The clouds launch a spray of bullets
that purge the scorched road
oily steam rises thick in my nostrils
smells like the heat of
Lovers in collision