Poem "Desert Skin" (final version) @2007 Carol Lavoie

This is a poem I wrote for a local Rain Festival's poetry contest a couple of years ago. I've been very much affected by having lived for over 20 years in the desert, the last few years of which were drought conditions; instead of the usual 12 inches of rain, only about 6 - 9 inches. I'm relieved to be living in a land of moisture now. Hope it strikes a chord with someone out there:

Desert Skin
@Carol Lavoie 2005

Cracking and peeling, flakes fall,
drift down to dry earth.
Blazing rays blast,
incessantly desiccating.
Sweet respite gained only at dusk.

Dawn again. Again, another search
for shelter, shade, moisture mostly.
Flakes of skin, shells of cells
broken, empty, hollow.
Air where water belongs.

Water in the air,
collecting in clouds.
Skin so crusted it cannot feel
the Change in the weather,
doesn't remember.

Cells that still function
(inside the shelter,
behind the facade)
detect the scent of rain
like the skin in the nose
of a starving dog
discovering a hint
of a morsel of meat -

Awakening, alert, all
senses focused forward,
Rain is in the air.