A Hot Day in August

a poem by Jan Oskar Hansen

Overcast, the wind is hot,
my rosebush threatens to invade the cottage
through the kitchen window.
Hope a lightening will set it afire
and that cooling rain will leave
an aroma of damp plants and soil.
It’s no longer overcast
rain is absent
and the bush has retreated to the shade behind the shed.
Sun is sweating large drops of golden liquid
which I later, with a Chinese lantern,
will collect mix with dry roses of the bush that offended me,
my cottage will be cozy
and aromatic as a chapel of rest.