Falling From the Sky - July 3 2026

 

Falling From the Sky

July 3 2026

The hot humid air

was stifling to breathe

and impossible to sleep in.

Yet it was also exhausting

and we walked, zombie-like

  — focusing

on each small step,

slouching 

like old men

with porous bones and backs that bark.

Our brains were drained as well;

we were the living dead

unable to think

or plan. 

A heat dome, they called it;

“weather from hell”, we said.

The climate has changed

conditions are unpredictable. 

Pious Christians call it a judgement from God,

as if, by our sinfulness

we’d brought this on ourselves.

While the atheists

who believe in science agree

that man is to blame,

but for our greed, not immorality 

  — consuming

beyond our means.

But who in this sultry heat

has the strength to finger-point?

To either repent or pray,

practice politics

or attempt persuasion?

When all we can do is sweat,

sip cold drinks,

sit in one place.

I watch dogs, tongues lolling

as they pant in the shade.

Notice squirrels 

who would scamper through the trees

like addicts on speed

stand 

unnaturally still,

hold 

their querulous chatter. 

And look up, surprised to see birds

falling from the sky;

the air so thin

even featherweight creatures

are unable to fly.

In a recent post to a friend, I wrote the words “what’s next” (accompanying an article about the lonestar tick and alpha-gal syndrome), thinking of the endless cascade of current and imminent disasters pressing in on our accustomed way of life, some perhaps even threatening human civilization. First to mind, of course, was climate change, especially with today’s newspaper reports of oppressive heat waves in Europe and — closer to home — eastern and southern Canada, the US south and midwest.

It’s fine here. Relatively, anyway. But I hate heat, and am bad in it. So it was easy for me to imagine how it must feel. 

I remember a heat wave when my car almost hit some low-flying birds I’d normally not even notice:  the heated air had expanded so much it affected their lift, and they really struggled to gain altitude and get out of the way as they usually easily would.