Hungry for rain,
earth and sea open
to the vast sky.
Rain gods descend,
soaking the parched land
and starved trees.
I hunker down,
wet to the marrow,
grateful as only
an old man can be
before the earth altar.
photo by Linda Ethier
Reading of “Rain Gods” with music by The Beach Boys.
The perfect time for this poem is NOW, right here in Fort Collins, Colorado! Is NOW so many places around the globe. With so many different weather extremes presenting themselves, it’s as if the natural world is seeking a new balance. As I look around the microcosm of what I call “my yard”, I feel called upon to act with humility, patience and trust.
Here in Colorado we need moisture desperately. I think I will go outside and joyously dance.
Don, you keep writing about “old man” and a kid like Mike McC won’t be able to follow the argument. You describe the weather well.
Timely, thus Prophetic, Don. When an old(er) man (like me!) hunkers down, he sees (because he can by now) Earth’s ‘Altar’ elements at a bit closer range, hence in a bit more detail. All the while, he’s silently grateful for Earth Herself being the one big, all-encompassing Altar of his earthen soul’s abiding. He’ll linger There with Her for whiles-longer perhaps, knowing that She’s the One counting the days of lingering for him, until Life as he knows It lingers no longer. Then, “Thank You, Mother, and So Long — Until Next Time” … ….