Heatwave
~
a Sunday in July, midday in a heatwave
‘caravan beach’ fills with campers and tents
~
sultry as summer in the south of France
Donegal unused to this weather
~
pull down black blinds to the South
open all windows North
~
dogs pant on the slate floor in the hall
fill water bowls almost hourly
~
solar panels reach maximum
fill a bath for watering later
~
so glad of the breeze from the sea
lifting the heavy geranium heads
~
swifts on the red endangered list
guillemots declining steeply
~
neighbour’s wayward cat has returned
the Times warns of two thousand extra deaths
~~~
donegallizdoyle 
Witness to the world at its end.
Terrifying, but we still go on day by day
I have to write (and paint) or I would give in to despair
I have to distract myself from constantly worrying about what future there is for my four beautiful young grandchildren
I also continue else I’d go mad with, yes, despair and terror. The ones who can learn to breathe in extreme heat will survive. And continue to fill the world all over again.