the day
after you left
an oppressive
heat
settled
over the city
and smothered
everything
a dehydration
desiccation
devastation
that parched
oceans
and suffocated
forests
and sent
a scourge
of insects
seeking
futile refuge
in withered
crumbling homes
your departure
did not come
with weeping skies
your absence
is not rain
or flood
it’s desert
it’s drought
interminable
drought
