Afternoons In August Poem by Maya Hanson

I crack the window,
inhale and emerge into stillness,
surrounded by sweat and tired cicadas

We take comfort in the concrete
roughing up our heels
as we sprint past sweet nostalgia
in the middle of the summer haze

When the sun melts away all the oxygen
the world is asleep
but weeks trickle by, oblivious
There's something freeing about
being frozen in time in the summer

We taste the carefree paralysis
when hot air decides to fade and
silence all the spheres
Then suddenly we're breathing the rain
Our voices echo in the steam and storms

We sink in and out of consciousness
along with the longest days,
seeming small again
in the face of the season that wraps me in warmth
when I slip out the screen door

Afternoons filled with spice and summer,
leaning on the one who makes me whole.