‘Twas that bright cloudless June
When the doves flew away
When cicada song rose
in a menaced refrain
When sunflowers bowed their heads in surrender
When it seemed like we hadn’t had rain in forever
We heard a kerplunked chipped wheel of a wagon
and the rhythmic clip-clop of a shoeless horse draggin
long before we saw the far-off dust. It arrived
then climbed down a wee man brown as rust.
He looked into the cloudless sky
as a doctor might, with a practiced eye,
then asked, “Might we have a drink, my horse and I?”
The well was low, had been a spell
and when ‘twould rain, ’twas hard to tell.
Yet welcome was his rust-toned visage
as we favored travelers in our village.
“Yes, dear sir, please drink – then stay
for cabbage soup this cloudless day.”
The horse and he were dry-gulch parched.
They drank their fill. Then he marched
to the middle of the cracked wheat field.
He danced and sang, he laughed with glee,
looked up to the blue hell of cloudless sky,
reached into his bag, and threw up a handful of seeds.
:::Grumble Rumble:::
:::Rumble Grumble:::
:::Crack! Crack!:::
Lightning flashed!
Cicadas silent
as clouds danced.
We felt a chill up our spines, in the air,
as electricity tickled in our hair.
Blue skies scurried while clouds hurried
high overhead; cicadas fled.
He laughed again and waved his arms.
He clenched his fists, he squeezed the clouds.
Emptying buckets of rain on our heads.
We danced in the mud, happy to be alive!
Sheets fell as he climbed back up on his wagon,
strangely the wheel now fixed
and his horse wearing new shoes.
“You’ll find corned beef in your soup,”
the brown man said as he tipped his hat,
and the wagon rolled off
down the long muddy road.
top image: “Dance” (1998) by Keith Haring
I wrote this poem for a dVerse prompt awhile back and recently re-found it. In the original the month was August, but we need it now, in June; right now. Please pray rain and dance for it if you’re able.
Tao Talk 
What a magical poem Li. I do hope it rains and the thirst of the earth is satisfied
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Sadje, I remember you said something about rain when you didn’t want it with the climate changes and that made me wonder if other places were getting too much rain. That also made me confine the rain to North America :)
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Right now our weather is going as expected. But drought or floods are always waiting in the wings.
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Glad it is going well there.
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It is, thanks God. I hope it stays that way.
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Thundering right now…(that dance carried far) (K)
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!YAY!
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Keeping fingers crossed for some rain in your area. We also could need and may get some next week. At least, the smoke seems to have disappeared, though we’re still under a high ozone warning.
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Please be careful and wear an N95 mask (or better if you have one.)
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We finally got rain yesterday…a pretty bad storm but we needed it.
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Congratulations!!!!
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Absolutely divine descriptions.🖤✨🤩🌟
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Jude, thank you very much. I sent this to my younger son in hopes he would illustrate it for a children’s book.
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Sounds exciting. Is there a peek?
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Right now it is only hope. Will def post if anything manifests :)
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I love it Lisa.
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<3
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2023 was a hard year. I was living in Cedar city Utah at the time and mostly taking care of my grandchildren and trying to re-peace together my world. There was just too much upheaval from the previous three years.That summer was harsh and the only thing that makes Cedar City good is the constant wind. Things are better now, but St. George where I live is far more hot than Cedar city and there is almost no wind here. If I want to see rain, I have to go out of state.
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Just looked at pics of where you’re at. The red rocks are beautiful but I bet they hold the heat to oven like temps. Not an inviting place in summer I would imagine.
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It’s not, to be honest. I’ve got friends in Asia and in England who’ve asked the best time to come to visit the national parks. I tell them to come in October and just bring a jacket in case it gets cold.
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