Heat Wave.

Adrift in South Texas.

I lie adrift in an azure pool

with arms out stretched

in weightlessness

and shut my eyes behind

my shades

and gaze through eyelids

red with blood at

changing patterns light and dark.

The sun bares down

from cloudless sky

gulf breezes slowly

turn me round

and I can feel

my skin turn brown

as afternoon slips into night

and with it every troubling thought

fades on the gentle swells.

Dennis Price