a quiet, tingling breath
Much like the anticipation
of a lover's touch
The cumulonimbus fingers
poised above the rigid mountainous spine
twist and tease but yield little
to the frustrated, parched earth
Reprieve! What I wouldn't give
for a deep lungful of air that didn't taste
like baked clay
perspiration
suffocation
The sun sets in a brilliant bloody fashion
Spilling over the darkening bulbous
cloud banks
Release! The water finally oozes free
leaving quarter-sized traces on the steaming pavement
Tension snaps
in the form of ragged streaks
that perform their terrifying dance from sky
to ground
Sharp invasive jabs
into the sand
I hear you can find glass scars in the desert
after a lightning strike
And then...
brief, so brief
the clouds move on
trapped in the funnel of the mountains
offering a grimy shell of respite
as again the thermometer slowly climbs.
