High Summer

A Roadrunner and a Young Shrub

We have occasional rain now, coupled with moodier skies and slightly cooler weather. Even the daytimes are suddenly more vibrant. But there is still an intense need for water among both the plants and animals.

I will let the following poem create its own brief narrative. But for those unfamiliar with these creatures, I had better explain that both the king snake and the roadrunner consider venomous snakes, such as rattlesnakes, to be their rightful prey. Each of the two—king snake and bird—are therefore good guardians and keep the rattlesnakes at bay.

Roadrunner

Freckles in the underbrush,
And feet running,
The whole gorgeous length of you
In a gap of sunlight,
Looking for water like the rest of us,
But too wary to wait for it;

We meet obliquely, you and I,
Communicate only in passing—
My guardian at the canyon’s base,
Like the king snake at the top;
You’re a companion of these hottest days,
Seeking for water like the rest of us:
Here’s the water, friend,
Here’s some water.

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I have a still-quite-young (and small) Texas Ranger bush, also known as Barometer Bush for its habit of blooming with, or even just before, rainfall.

The Texas Ranger Bush

The monsoon rains beckoned,
And the tiny ranger bush
Put out its pearl-pink buds
Opaline like old glass,
Shimmered and faintly rainbowed;
And when the buds opened,
It was like a bird,
A new-fledged bird
With its first bright feathers,
For this was the first full bloom.

Lilac-pink they opened,
With throats laughing for joy of rain,
Furred and flounced and fine;
And they covered the bush
With summer and wisdom
So it could become a haven;
So very little room
Was among its small branches,
But a butterfly danced amid the blooms,
And a lizard sheltered underneath,
And the bush smiled in pink flowers
And bade them welcome.

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And lastly a bit of rhyme from nighttime…

Flying

From the corner of my eye
There I saw a falling star,
“Fly, you speck of silver, fly! “
It had flown and burnt to ash
When I looked into the sky.
Stars were still, and still they are;
Yet I saw a flying star,
For a moment saw it fly.

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