Clouds
Inspired by the painting “Clouds” by Bill Teeple
August sautés golden hilltops.
Summer fog shreds itself into vapor confetti.
Tattered clouds reveal shocking blue.
A lone hawk keens, spins overhead.
Rattlesnake grass crackles as invisible lizards
scurry across fissured adobe.
Relentless sun taunts drooping pines.
Cumulus cast ephemeral shadows.
We crave their darker cousins,
pray for elusive rainstorms.
Persistent drought lingers on.
September 2021
.