The sidewalk sizzles.
Air radiates with heat, so dry
it feels like you’re breathing through wool.
The sun blazes–
high, untouchable, and silent.
It shows no mercy and continues its path
as if nothing beneath it matters.
Cars melt in parking lots.
Skin turns red
before we realize.
And even still, the sun shines,
unaffected.
This is not fiction; this is nature.
And it is more powerful
than us.
We like to think we’re in control.
We construct tall buildings,
invent new technology,
flood our cities with lights that glow all night.
But no matter how smart we get,
we can’t stop a storm.
There’s no umbrella big enough to
block the sun when it decides to
burn everyone’s skin.
Nature doesn’t care
how advanced we are.
It warns us–loudly,
with beauty sharpened into danger.
The ocean swells higher each year,
seeping into once comfortable, cozy bedrooms
and fully-stocked storefronts.
Water fills up, step by step,
at doorsteps where children once used to play,
and twists rivers out of shape.
Dry winds move through trees,
and then fire breaks loose–
turning the sky dark orange and gray.
Birds scatter.
Homes disappear in the smoke.
The sun is covered by the haze
so thick
that it feels like evening at noon.
When I moved from the misty country of South Korea
to the desert of Nevada,
the sun gave its warning across my skin.
Red bumps,
irritation,
burning heat—
it was my body reacting to something unstoppable.
It was a reminder,
nothing personal.
The sun doesn’t care who I am, after all;
it shines
because that is what it does.
And I finally soon realized:
We orbit the sun—
not the other way around.
Respecting nature doesn’t mean fearing it.
It means listening.
It means adapting and understanding
that our survival depends on balance—
not control.
The sun’s rays that excite the bird calls at dawn
that beckon children into grass,
a sun-filled green where laughter lives—
are the same rays that bring heat,
heavy and still,
when trees curl their leaves in surrender.
Whether it’s the sun, the sea, or the soil,
nature gives us life,
but it can just as easily
take it away.
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