The Year's First Rain
The lush desert
Intertwined with the concrete jungle
Raises its irrigated lips to the heavens
And tastes the first faint drops of natural water
A thousand inhabitants take a private pilgrimage
Out under the night sky
And let the moment's worries wash away
Carried into the ground by the same drops
That fell into an empty valley here
In an age long past
Walking barefoot along the fine line of a shiver
They close their eyes
Tasting divine absolution in a city of sin
Hearing nature's voice in a city of industry
Smelling the sky's tears in the city of angels
The sprawling beast, long since outgrowing its maker
Shrugs off the water without a thought
Even as it is lulled into a brief sleep
But Mother Nature has issued a gentle, drizzly warning:
Those who think they are the masters will be tolerated
For now
The clouds shower the last of their blessings
Onto a thousand damp novitiates
And leave the city in a brief moment of glistening reflection
Then it reawakens
And begins anew its blind thrashing
Through the sparkling valley of human achievement
Forgetting the brief taste of eternity
Until the rains come again
November 8, 1998