Heat wave grips the land

Ruthlessly infuses the earth

With its thermal energy

Even at dawn

Warmth from the night

Still lingers

As sun rises

Heat grows fiercer

Mercury creeps up

Inside a toasting oven

Lives are under siege

Helplessly they endure

Heat penetrates everywhere

Even into shaded places

Where cooling doesn’t exist

Bodies can only bear so much

When overwhelmed with torridness

Cells vainly scream murder

Nature indifferently watches

Mortal beings surrender

To the silent killer

By Shih-Fang Wang

From: United States