Coal gray clouds lurk around the mountains
Slowly, they gather courage
And creep toward the heated, impassioned
desert landscape.
Lightning snaps and thunder resounds.
The land responds with fire.
Rain trickles from the sky above.
The land is caressed for a time.
The rain turns to pummeling hail
The fire is put out by the violence.
A climactic torrent of water rages forth
in a final tragic tearing asunder.
A kind of peace falls across the land
and the heat begins to rise.
A kind of anticipation grows
Waiting for the skies to strike again.
(Copyright 2001 -- First appeared in Mobius: The Poetry Magazine)
***************************************
The Lone Balloon
It drifts lazily along...
The sailboat of the desert southwest.
Aimless but
with purpose.
Floating but
in motion.
Silent but
color shouts!
Then
Like us all...
Down
Down
To the Earth
Down
Down
But
Unlike us all...
It will...
It must...
To the Sky
Rise
Rise
Rise again.
(Copyright 2000 -- First appeared in the Southern New Mexico Ink)
David Lee Summers is a writer, editor, and astronomer living somewhere between the western and final frontiers in Southern New Mexico. His novel, Vampires of the Scarlet Order published by LBF Books ( www.lbfbooks.com ) is available at Amazon.com and major bookstores. His poetry has appeared in such magazines as The Santa Clara Review, Spindrifter, Message of the Muse, and Star*Line.
