Rain From the Sea

Views From Morning and NIght

This week’s post is mostly about the rainy weather that has arrived from the California coast. It has stayed here in southeastern Arizona for two days, bringing over an inch of rain locally—quite a bit for the desert!

Rain and mist and fog make their own worlds around us. They change the light, the scents, the sounds… all sorts of things!

Rain, December

Just after dawn,
I feel the slow rain dripping,
Dropping on my hood.
Across the valley
The dense, wet clouds
Float at eye level,
Propped up by two stalwart saguaros.
Under the trailing mist
The damp hillsides grow red,
And the little trees grow green
And brighten to yellow-green,
While the pale-headed chollas
Peer over and around the shoulders
Of the dark mesquite.
Down in the canyon the horses
Are wet and watching for breakfast.
And so am I.

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Ghost of the Sea

The ghost of distant seas
Lies over the desert tonight;
The soil is soft,
And the air is moist and white.

The roar of far-off waves
Is hushed to a whisper here;
No tides will rise
Though the moon shines high and clear.

The clouds have melted to mist,
And rain dissolved to gray;
The ocean at dawn
Once more will be far away.

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I walk up the path.
Here’s a new arch I pass under,
built by a spider.

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