balking and breaking

The light was hasty to leave

At 6:45AM it shined in lines on the summer bed sheet

By 7 it had raced out of the sky

The living room was black

Last night we didn’t walk

We who trek in downpours

And illegal humidity

Yesterday oxygen balked

Rebelled

And all that was left

Was air that choked

The throat

and brought an unexpected

ache to right corner

of the forehead

so we stayed in and laid about

in skirts

holding short glasses of

icy tart alcohol

but that all changed

when the light did

this morning

the oxygen protest

was broken

with a succession of crashing

banging
stunning and cracking
the cool water
pushing and pulling
the air
forcing it into submission
minutes later

a new breeze

breathing restored

a new day