A Long Hot Summer

September 17, 2009

It has been a very busy, hot summer. It is not unusual to look back on a summer and wonder where the time went. Weddings, concerts in Lithia Park, walks to the college--the summer is all a beautiful memory now. What I don't remember is rain this summer. Our last rain was back in June. With all of the low fronts that have blown over us, there has been no measurable rain. We came close the other night. The smell was so rich and desireable I wrote a poem about it.

The Tease

Four days dark gray
cumulous clouds
towered over our
parched valley.
The sun set behind
dusty tan hills
sulking in the shadows.

A warm earthy fragrance
suggested rain.
With bare feet I ran
to greet the drops—
but felt only a warm
damp sidewalk and
slightly slick grass.

Lonely for rain
after a long summer,
I tilt my face toward
the dark sky to feel
only three drops.
Merely the breath
of moisture.