Dogs in Heat

There are bodies writhing in this heat.
It’s radiating from the ground,
The bitumen, gravel and tar are melting
The storm-water grates are steaming.

It was stagnant four months ago
The heat static and binding.
A breath released then, seemed to plummet to the ground
Now it waivers, vibrates.
Sighs are heavy, they’re loaded.

The earth is soft like wax
Heels tack across the footpath
They sway and stick
They click-click-clock.
Wolf-whistle sounds from a steel skeleton –
Here are dogs in heat.

Sydney streets deserted
The citizens lock their doors
Wait for storm to come and purge the dusty roads.

Wolves and dogs skulk through concrete trees
It is so hot we tremble
Pant and wait for night to come.

The wait set teeth on edge
Turned feline, canine, animal.
Skin, before dormant, now grows a plastic film
It encases bodies tight
Searing heat.
Plastic film stretches
Turns translucent,
It breaks.

Releases fever
I tear my leash.
Contagious
I am bitten
And dream of wild dogs.
Snagging my tights with your teeth.
We run and tumble
Reside where wild things are.

Sleep no longer
Bed-sheets drenched in sweated instinct.
We hunt and prowl the streets,
Peer through shop-front windows
Moan and howl at bodies cased in plastic
Throats are cracked and dry
Seek a tap to drip, to suck
Packs we roam for water to quench.

I see childhood under sprinklers
In the grass,
At home
The sun filters through bottlebrush
It’s hot, the garden tap drips.
It drips still now, slow on my skin.

We are waiting for the water
To pool together
Heavy on itself, clinging
Then fall in a small-distorted balloon
Released from the underside of tap
Drop.

Wolves howl and bark,
Scuffle and bite their shadows
The horizon shivers
And city convulses, heaves in its fever.

Blink through wet lashes
Mesmerised by the muddled skin
Shirt peels like a ladyfinger
We mill and dart
Here are dogs in heat.
The city is on fire, it’s ablaze.
Feet scuff and trip up gutters
It must be summer
The street is melting.