Salty

The sun was caught orange and hot in the corner of the sky Burning skin and rubber into asphalt and melting brains that drip strawberry ice cream pink, with salty sweat down curved noses pooling in cupid’s bow before sliding past parched lips into the devil’s doorway becoming fuel for fire-breathers and flames that only tickle the house they meant to burn And nothing moves but simmering heat Off the streets in slow blurred lines, like ghosts straining out of floorboards keeping children wilted Until, like a gust of cold wind before a rainstorm Their grandmother gathers them up home Frantic among a world of drips and leaks and melts.