AUGUST MONSOONS

Out of the Gulf to rest upon the spine

of the Sierras, run aground on the Kaweahs,

animal shapes spill overboard

after marking months of blazing days

since April showers, we watch clouds

and wonder if it rained on Arizona friends,

or if it’s pouring now on the Kings

or in the Roaring River Canyon, Rowell

Meadow darkened beneath them.

Despite hot monsoon gusts that lift

and twist the dust across the pasture,

pregnant cows sequestered to the shade,

we dare to breathe relief as the sun slides

south—split redwood and Manzanita

waiting ready near the woodstove.