Written on the summer solstice, and saved for a gloomy day in autumn.

It is the hottest June day since 1976.
I am staying very still, indoors,
So that the neat does not notice me.
The heat creeps around the door
Sucking at the limp air
Until there is nothing left to breathe.
It shimmies across the room,
Seductive, soporific;
Presses itself into my skin,
Holding me down.
Sticky-breathed stroking,
Nothing to do but surrender.