HEATWAVE

You are slanting like lightAcross my memoryColours undimmedTurquoise and orange of photosIn an album shut since those Seventies summersDetail gnawed thin by regrets we daren’t revisit.Thermometer cannot rise to this,Mercury shimmers, flat figures flickering.That ladybird plague, the greenfly gorged on every stemPets crawling the paths, fur full of wings,Seeking the refugee shade.You are parching my tongueWith tears uncriedYou are here, even now,Luminous, crepuscularYou are sunfast.