Melt

• Lauren Forrester, Grade 11
• Poetry
• 2017

The tap dribbles lethargic and warm
and in the distance, I can see a storm
brewing to mark the end of a fever
A short term solution, the greatest deceiver
Sticky flesh and stickier days
The sight of white forever ablaze
Salty skin, in the water out
Salt in hair that will never wash out
Heavy and setting and final and sure
In Winter it had all its allure
But it suffocates and strangles and takes and hides
Fickle and unpredictable as the tides

The perfect summary of the cards we’ve been dealt
Is the fact my thongs are beginning to melt.