Collage

We are in the grip of another heat wave.
The sky is cloudless blue.
The air is still.
No trace of wind stirs the leaves,
which have begun to fall to the ground.
It is very quiet.
No passing truck, barking dog, tractor or leaf blower
disturbs the silence.
The calendar says autumn
but the thermometer says summer.
It is 95degrees.
And supposed to be hotter tomorrow.
A picture of Lake Mendocino in the paper
shows cracked earth and the skeleton of a carp.
We're having guests for dinner.
It's too hot to sit outside.
No wonder the polar ice cap
is melting.
A collage of pictures on the bedroom wall
will have to do for today….