Before It Rains

It's great to stay in the summer house
In August, despite the heat and sweat
Which often make me take my clothes off
Behind closed doors where no one laughs.

For this afternoon I sit alone in our porch,
Fully-clothed, facing the newly-planted garden.
The air has cooled, a strong steady southeast
Gust is nudging the parted leaves of a dwarf

Banana plant to wave wildly like a child.
Over the mountain the sky has darkened.
Cumulonimbus clouds go farther than the eye.
A hushed wait hollows me and the garden

Out into breathlessness.

© Luis Cabalquinto