An inundation! The sky’s ocean broke!
Hour after hour the dense fall drums on us,
So thick it almost hides the hills, like smoke.
Runnels, ponds, freshets, a fabulous
Watery world. And underneath? in the caves?
The caverns? the black, deep lakes? Ah, waves
Run over, cascades plunge, the rain reaches
A million fingers down to the deepest pools,
The unseen lappings rise on those black beaches,
The earth fills, the hot earth slowly cools.
And the people, the women sigh and smile and twist,
Dreaming they are the ones the great god kissed.
ISSUE: Autumn 1955