I have waited
For what seems like centuries
In a desert dry of feminine grace
Parched throat
Sun splintered eyes
And a heart as still as snow

Had I only known
It was your stormcloud I awaited
I’d have licked the sand
And stood blind beyond thaw
For what seemed like centuries more…

But just the other day
(or so it seems)
Your storm blew across my desert
So powerful
So beautiful
That at first there was fear
Spiked with hesitation

There had been other storms here
But they let precious little rain
On their way to distant lands
Or the rain they spilt
Was bitter poison
Killing off that which flowers in this heat

Besides

This climate is warm
(It burns)
And it is dry
(Oh god)
And I have become accustomed to it.

However…

This storm was different
Looking as though it were
A storm for no one
A front that would hold her rain forever
A thunder as hesitant as my welcome

I climbed my mountain
To stand at the event horizon
The place where these things are met
I took a moment to look out across my desert
And heard every grain of sand vibrate
With his prayers for rain
A hum
Then a drone
A keening
And finally
A song…

I looked up and the sky was rend with sound…

Your first drops hit my eyes
Filled my vision
(oh what a vision)
sweet bird of light

the next drops met my dry
cracked skull
and as it soaked in
I knew

I knew as the drops hit my tongue
That I would drink for what seemed
Like forever
Forever

Again the thunder spoke
Like a redwood across god’s knee
A sound louder than thundercloud
And desert ever heard before…

and it began to pour……………………………………………………….

As the life giving rain
Soaked my sand crusted skin
I think perhaps I cried
Impossible to tell
With all the sky now water
But the thump in my trunk
As my heart began to beat
Felt too good to think I didn’t

The last thing I remember about my desert
Was how beautiful it was in the rain
”it was always beautiful” said the bird
and perhaps
it was.

Storm and desert
Are no more
An ocean now lay in their place

Bird and lizard
Are no more
Shimmering fish swim in their space.