It's ... July First

Hot and drippingly humid the day, 
sunrays fiercely stoking the furnace 
of yet another torrid summer day blaze. 
In the garden, green vines droop 
in a dismay of overheated discomfort. 
Blossoms have abandoned their 
colourful sheen, bees wing halfheartedly
to languishing pollen-filled stamens. 
The lush foliage of the ornamental 
magnolia are spontaneously detaching 
stem from branch, committing graceful
green suicides. Their morning songs 
beaked, birds seek shelter in the imagined 
cool interiors of the garden canopy. 
Oh, wait, hear that rumble? Rescue from
wilting heat is upon us. Doesn't that 
look like a thunderhead now shading 
the sun? Then, a sleek, black streak of 
a jet slices the sky as warplanes mount 
their dramatic sinister presence, celebrating
peace and security for another Canada Day.