A Response

[elfcraft]

Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
To that sweltering thickness of air
that makes me drown slowly
with each breath?
To the sun that blisters the world
under its furious gaze,
wilting once-supple leaves
and delighting as they curl
into fragile, thirsty parchments
the color of regret?
Or to the arid heat curling
from the concrete,
visible waves like ghosts' breath,
stealing the tongue from my mouth
and leaving a clumsy, dried toad in its place?
To the heat that crawls
down my throat, lodging itself
firmly in my chest,
making powder of my blood
and my defenses.