Tonight I am chasing the cool side of the pillow,
almost as elusive as breeze
despite the windows with their open mouths
panting in the heat.
Here, the backs of my knees slide slicked
between day fresh sheets
too quickly twisted into abandoned heaps,
lumps of coal still smoldering at the foot of this bed
all while the ceiling fan wheels in slow circles
the air curdling into soups so thick
it sticks in my lungs
like grief I want to scream into the cool side of a pillow
until my breath has turned cotton to swamp,
until I cannot tell the tears from my sweat
and the summer feels a little less like a coffin
pressing in on all sides.
Carol J Forrester 
Loved it
Thank you.
Oh my. I too have had those nights that were so hot I wept. I am living off gazpacho and cold cucumber soup these days. Too hot!
I’m currently a lovely shade of red on my shoulders. Decided to climb Snowdon on Tuesday with the husband and got very sunburned. Amazing views though.
I’ll bet! I have a tendancy to use large hats, parasols, and sun screen. I had sun poisoning several times as a child and am super sensitive to the direct sun. LOL, my mother used to call me her baby vampire.
I love that opening line. I feel hot just reading this!
That’s just the reaction I love to hear. 🙂
I didn’t read at first but listened- excellent!
Thank you very much.
despite the windows with their open mouths
panting in the heat.
Love it!
Exquisite description.
You remind me of what it’s like at the beach in summer with no a/c. I’ve experienced this but not so poetically as this. Well done!
Thank you very much. We have a fan in the bedroom here but I hate the noise so I can’t sleep with it on. It’s a choice between that keeping me awake or the heat it seems.
I love those “windows with their open mouths / panting in the heat” and the breath that turns cotton to swamp. I can totally sense the coffin-like stricture of a summer night.
Thank you.
Oh, I can feel the heat and even more so its physicality from the real experience of it.
This has to be my favorite bit: “like grief I want to scream into the cool side of a pillow/until my breath has turned cotton to swamp”.
An inspired write.
-HA
Thank you very much. I tend to write a lot of poetry rooted in emotions or relationships so I wanted to write one that a real physical element to it.
This is such a great way of describing the swelter of summer…. thankfully it cooled off today… love the physical aspect of the ordeal.. the walls of the coffin especially.
Thank you. I’m afraid the heat is pretty much the only thing I can think of at the moment so writing a poem about anything else might have been tricky.
We’re headed to Utah next week and I’m starting to wonder why. Didn’t think about the 100 degree temps in July when I planned the trip. I suspect this poem may come back to me.
The husband and I climbed Snowdon on Tuesday. Utterly crisped on my right shoulder. Still hurting now. I at least have the excuse of being English and you know what they say about Mad Dogs and Englishmen.
“despite the windows with their open mouths
panting in the heat.” I love those lines – they create such a vivid picture!
Thank you. It was one of those lines that I felt really proud of after I’d written it.
Nice lines: “the air curdling into soups so thick
it sticks in my lungs”
Thank you.
I have chased the cool side of the pillow many times. You have so many great phrases in this poem.
I hope life brings a refreshing breeze your way soon.
Thank you Ali. I’ll admit there are some lines in this that I think are my favorite ever.
Oh, Carol, I know that so well, ‘chasing the cool side of the pillow’ and the ‘windows with their open mouths / panting in the heat’.
Your poem evokes all the sleepless nights I’ve ever had. I’m so glad it’s a cooler Saturday morning!
“knees slide slicked” is a great line. Lovely reading of your work too.
Thank you very much. 🙂