Burnt Rain

Shh, shh
Too hot to speak.
Listen like a good child.
Listen to the sun.
Listen to it hum a spell
Till all your thoughts have died and fell,
Cut and dried and neatly piled-
Too hot, too weak.

Mama, it burns.
Oh hush now, young one.
Do not sweat, and do not cry, and do not curse the sun.
But mama, my heart yearns.
It's sick and it's sad.
I wish we had a rainy day
Not sky in ashes clad.

Smoke is all we ever have
Rising from fire's meals
Hungry but never filled
Unmoving yet unable to be stilled.
At first rising in its wrath
And then wandering, lost and drifting off the path
Confused until we breathe it in
Sigh it out, and hope a new life will begin.

Alone, hovering.
The desert earth baked
A potter's kiln
Then from the corners
Drawn and raked
The clouds come creeping in

Shh, shh
The rain falls at last.
Breathe in slow and deep, child-
Breathe out ashen air.
Breathe out every care and flame
Till you are full of the smell of burnt rain
Steaming, cooling, quiet and wild
Full of light and overcast.

Burnt rain upon the rocks
Constant hushing, constant song
Cold met fire and mist was born
To soothe the eyes of the lone and worn
To find where we belong

Burnt rain is all I know
Dissolving ash and mixing ink
Write my words in Heaven's slate
Too soon to move, too long to wait
I tilt my head, dismayed, and blink.

When veils reveal and vision blinds
What's left to say but child's lines?