Couples flee cities on hot summer days

          Seeking respite from heat’s oppression

Escaping stifling city smells 

From tar and refuse

And reflected heat on aged paintwork

          To laze in cool pastures, in lakes, or in pools or the sea

Out into the country our couple speed

          As if to escape from cruel tyranny

                    For respite

For solace

For freedom

In hot sticky cars or by other means

Until at last, bodies dampened and emotions heated

They come upon a favoured place

A country field with sweet promise

Along one side

A stand of tall poplars lined like sentinels

Vertical branches barely moving

On the faintest breath of a summer breeze

Grass in the field browning cruelly under

The merciless summer sun

But still this familiar patch has its charms

And hoped for respite from summer woes

At the end of the field, in the middle almost

Stands a weeping willow

Spreading sad branches and spindly leaves

Overhanging and shading a small island of field and stream

Protecting our pair for a time from burning sun

The stream meanders

Impelled by summer rains, high on the hills beyond

Gurgling as it tumbles and falls over the rocky floor

Green mosses growing just above the water line

Fed and dampened by the water below

That carves out brown earthen banks where lovers can repose

Freed from urban swelter and oppression

The couple sitting side-by-side

In willow’s shadow

In their own natural world

Being cooled together in shade and water

Legs dangling into the coolness of the water

So crystal clear and cool

That oozes and slips by

Deliciously bathing their feet on its way

Cooling summer’s afflictions

Offering respite

Without dampening their summery love

Somewhere near a birdsong chorus sounds

          Layering sound upon the gurgle from the stream

A natural asymphony barely perceptible to lovers

Who hear only their own hearts beat

Time and sun relent

          For a time there is no time

For a time there is no heat

For a time our couple are captive in this place

          No heat to stress

          And warm loving hearts

Beat as one

Soon all this must end

          And to urban oppression return

No more respite

But at least love’s thirst is quenched for a time

With a memory and fondness for that cool break

Until the sweltering stifling city heat and fumes oppress again

Driving plans for a new escape sometime soon