Ignoring the heat,
 
three sunflowers pop open
 
in a dusty place.

 
 

I crack the front door—
 
where is Lady Summer Heat?
 
Whoa! She barges in!

 
 
 

Hear the winter wind!
 
It howls outside the window
 
like a cat in heat.

 
 
 

Triple-digit temps—
 
stones along the garden path
 
hold their heat all night.

 
 
 

My neighbor’s daughters
 
keep practicing soccer moves—
 
shimmering heat waves.

 
 
 

In the crackling heat
 
even crickets keep silent—
 
summer’s waning days.

 
 
 

Midsummer heat wave—
 
why complain to me, shrill crow?
 
I can’t cool things down.

 
 
 

Heat wave in July—
 
I remember cooler days
 
and white plum blossoms.

 
 
 

Heat, relentless heat!
 
Even the sunflowers droop
 
by 7 a.m.

Refuge

 
 
 

Under a parked car
 
a feral cat takes refuge
 
from the midday heat.