Desert Water

by

Richard Shelton


once a year
when infallible toads
begin to sing
all the spiders who left me
return and I make room for them
I am too proud
to mention their long absence
then the owls
send a message in code
from saguaro to saguaro
and the toads stop singing
a sea of warm air
rolls over quickly and relaxes
we wait for the promised rain
for the second coming
of water
each time it arrives
like the flood and I know
I have not wasted my life
spiders still come
to my house for shelter

From Selected Poems 1969 - 1981 by Richard Shelton, © 1982 Richard Shelton. All rights are controlled by the University of Pittsburgh Press, Pittsburgh, PA 15260. Used by permission of the University of Pittsburgh Press.
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