An Unusually hot September Afternoon

by Erin Danielson

Guilt rolled down and dripped from her elbow

Like the pasty sunscreen tinted sweat that was beaded a crossed her upper lip

She had been running for over an hour trying

to pound the tingling sensation out of her defeated limbs.

With each exhale, thrusting the bitter taste of her shame

Away, away, away.

Nothing could remove or reverse the steps she had taken

which glared up at her like footprints in the bleached sand,

placed too high to ever be reached by the

cool waves of a calm conscious.

Her blistering feet were rubbed raw by the continuous

bouncing and scrapping of her soles across the grainy pavement.

painful, but necessary for the eventual healing.

It was much too exposed, she was exposed

Afraid of sharing the weight she pushed on,

throwing the last of the truth behind her

lying on the burning pathway hidden in the

Illusion of a heat wave on an unusually hot September afternoon.