a brief respite
in the form of an
ancillary embrace
from a stray
hurricane’s arm
shifted twenty or
so degrees cooler
for a solitary day
i listened to
the rain all night
wondering if it was
a sleepy delusion
or harbinger of
inclement doom

between wondering
if the storm is real
and dipping into
dreams of her smile
i have found myself
in a world uncertain
where the things
i yearn for evaporate
into a mist of disguised
longing in repentant
shades of self destruction