Rain Flowers

rain shears open

the drought in Austin 

gully gushers flash barn high 

sudden runoff uproots trees, 

washes abandoned appliances adrift

discarded parts & pieces

create a medley of suburban refuse 

the rush, a net, snags & drags under 

whatever swims on the whirled current,

including an one adventurous teen

riding the wild water on a float just for fun, 

his body not discovered by searchers until four days later,

backwashed into a tributary on the flood, dropped like new loam

the precious rainfall, a torrent, breaks open dormant seeds

over night they appear as white mist 

this magic meadow sprouts in a prairie warren of tract houses 

on the lawn of the house where the drowned boy lived,

the rain flowers resurrect  

Date Published: September 23, 2023