In The Heat Poem by Ezra Cortez

I was walkin slow and pained and wincy-eyed,
-If you'd call it walking-
On a running road where doing anything less
Would mean that you were dead

I had left my dog
Tied to a post, barking
Near a friendly neighbor there who i knew
Would love that boy

I'd been leavin twenty miles behind
Hearin' nonea word spit outta my own modest grin,
That crooked fool
He doesn't say a word even when.

I need a living jist, i said
At times i'm gonna shut it and
You, you're just gon have to live with
Yourself, he said.

My clothes were lined in a shotgun sweat
My legs made no move to lose my step
My skin opened up without regret
My bones danced naturally like an actor in a
Movie set

The sun was a flattened disc or somethin'
I couldn't find it in the sky
Must've been so high and lost
I wondered

Maybe he floated off to a less empty place
But left behind his rays
Cause he knew i surely had to feel alone
Down here staring at my own sunburnt face

Now and then when i reached a muddy pool of
Quiet, seeping, sleeping water, i hadn't grown
A beard, i'd see and i did, i did, i felt alone
I think i'll be good for a few more days