Like the crimson tide you rise
Filling the air with your hot breath
Killing all that’s green
Craving an escape for some reprieve
From you we cannot flee
The ground cracks, expunged from every drop
Beaches rivers are filled to the brim
Even snakes slither to its shores
Your rays glaze our skin in scarlet red
Leaving only excruciating pain
Joyously I bid you farewell summer
The cooler air erases the memory of you
Laura Mostert is a high school teacher and lives in Cape Town.