In the Heat

in the summer the city sweated black drops poured over cement and the bridges creaked under the thunder of trucks

gaseous fumes drifted from the river and the basalt and steel was stained with carbon

the air swept through the cars and stroked the benches and trees and the sun broke through the dull sounds that hung over the streets

and the trains worked with fists and heels clothes whiffed with smoke in the thin wet air

but the city was alive an organism, squirming in the perspiration and odors that floated through conversations sultry, seasoned words a saline discourse floating syllables irked by a timorous night that sank into the sidewalks and moved slowly, furtively in the heat