Heading into the desert sun,
I tail an enthusiastic storm.
Tires zing on sizzling pavement,
slash through puddles
on the rain-darkened highway,
Like a guardian flanking the road
to El Paso, a muscular mountain
heaves up, sable master of the horizon,
his head silvered by rayed spotlights
streaming through cracked charcoal clouds
like lake water breaching a dam.
I stop to relish the sudden chill,
feel retreating thunder rumbling
my bones, hear breezes sliding over
damp sand, greedy for its moisture.
