The Promise

Gathered clouds
Marble desert skies
Latent with promise
The gift of life
For parched earth
Suspended over the dusty road

But only the traffic rumbles
No lightning
No thunder
To give pause

Then marble melts red
In night’s furnace
Cooling the heat
The promise has gone
Life again turns to dust
Beneath cold watchful stars

Martin Addison, 10/10/2016