Over the usual dry silence,

the million soft footsteps

of rain, exotic on this desert

summer Sunday. Awakening,

my mind reached out to cup

the din in the cistern of memory,

penetrated by recognition.

I unfurled from sleep,

from the deep fear of fire,

to the smokey grey sky

of cloud. Trees offset in limpid green,

their leaves bowed by the press

of wetness. The earth patters

beneath falling water, volume

increasing in sound and ground.

The generous eave built for snow,

where winter’s ice melts into spears,

this morning drips with summer’s

grateful tears. Runoff returns to river.

Reprieve from burn.