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A Dry Hot Night

Tonight heat moves like an animal near the bed,
Shaken leaves sound bloated in dry air;
The root-smell of the earth is suddenly everywhere
And stirs a violence in the tossing head.

With a jagged thrust I press your hand
As though for proof of anger or of love
When, in the lull of the wind, the shove
Of the tide boils up and pours across the land.

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