The villain that is heat is back.
The days swelter and the nights blaze.
My clothes cling and my palms sweat.
And it has come to suburban Grand Rapids, Michigan.

The heat today can be considered a natural disaster.
Heat so hot the pool water could’ve disappeared.
My hair sticking to the back of my neck,
Pool water flowing between my orange painted toes.
I lie down next to the pool and shut my eyes.
Heat, the suffocating heat takes away the refreshing water that splashed on my legs.
Droplets of sweat form like dew drops on my arm,
But it isn’t enough to keep me cool.

The pool hisses as the temperature soars to 98 degrees,
Heat is apparently Mother Nature’s gift for America’s birthday.
My skin is cracking, as the sun beats down.
I can’t take it anymore, as I roll into the pool.
The heat is dying, as I swim deeper and deeper.
I close my eyes and sit on the bottom of the pool,
Feeling refreshed, I swim back towards the shallow end.

As I break the surface, the world comes back to me.
Children laughing, dogs barking, cars honking,
And the villain that is heat is back.
I hear the sliding of a screen door, and see my aunt walk out.
There is a clink, as she places a tray on the picnic table.
Eyeing the tray, I scamper out of the pool,
And skip quickly over the deck to avoid burning my feet,
Until I reach the ice-cream and the slim glass of water.
I gulp down the ice-cream in one spoonful
Vanilla, so sweet, so rich…
But the heat stays as I stare into an empty bowl.
I grab my towel and hide inside
To escape the villain that is heat.