AUGUST REVERIES

My brown-skinned girl,
each dusty draw
seems softer, shadows

linger longer at the dawn
as the sun moves south
down ridgelines.

I begin to hear
the faint sound
of a light rain, early

on the roof—the musty
smell of it awakening
a primal surge of new life

for old veins on guard
for the slightest sign
telegraphed ahead

of a train in my mind
mesmerized by rivulets
finding their own way

to the creek running
into spring. Cottonwoods’
first yellow leaves

gathered by rolling gusts
up and down canyon—
you say you feel it too.