Summer/Suspended

I wipe the sweat off my brow

as degrees make the air thick with warmth

People move in all directions

going places, meeting faces in the heat

the heat that makes the outside so inviting

the heat that makes this blossom of summer

delight and agony

-

I wipe the tears from my eyes

even though they've long stopped coming

my body cools in the comfort of this uncomfortable space

heavy with the scent of antiseptic and medication

heavy with the sound of bleeping machines and breaths assisted

Outside, people are going places and meeting faces

and laughing and gasping and celebrating

summer as it sizzles

But here, in this surreality

in this village of suspended animation

I celebrate you, hanging on. I celebrate your strength.

I wipe the sweat from my brow and the phantom sting

of tears from my eyes

as I celebrate how much love there is

in this uncomfortable space

that suddenly doesn't seem as uncomfortable

as the blossom of summer outside