August In Florida Poem by Barry Middleton

the thunderheads have moved in
cotton candy mountains empty their canyons
an inch of water falls in twenty minutes

the fire season is a memory
not even the faintest curl of smoke rises
the scorched palmetto prairie awakens

the scrub jay has returned
the indigo snake is out of hiding
the green frogs sing their appreciation

grassy fingers reach for the sky
ponding water lingers on streets and lawns
people gather their stacks of books

the choices are heat or thunder storms
the choices are to read or to write
the poets watch as words flow from raindrops