Quietest Place on Earth - Dec. 5, 2024

just before winter’s rain

cactus don’t scream for water

if they did imagine the

cacophony of complaints

the pitiful young and suffering old

wailing in a choir of desperation

instead the desert is one

of the quietest places on earth

with the first rains you’d think you

could hear suckling sounds

and after the clouds clear

it might be like sighing

but all voices of suffering or relief

the wind picks up with the sand

and sweeps away in whispers

that sting the faces of those

that dare listen