summer sabbath
Words rise off the crowd like a stench
Then silence drips from spongy carpeted walls
Prayers scratch at brick ceilings
Melt wings in hot effort
And dull-thud back into the hum of fans
Beads of sweat greedy in the chapel oven
Sleepy eyes sinister
Flesh baking in dreary dreams of hellfire
Tight suits, taut stomachs
Damp polyester dresses in pink prints
Molt-leaden ears lapse in hearing
Restless mewls from winter babies
Rigid mothers rock and fan to cool
