Start with a kiln-dry summer day,
when the earth cracks with longing,
and sweat makes tracks between your breasts.
The air’s so still you hear a beetle scuttle
on the screen, the sun dims in a sullen sky,
and crickets stop chirping. Maybe they know
what’s coming, or they’re tired of asking.
Then it starts – the first lazy drops –
and when the wooden porch step’s dappled,
you go out and lift your face to the embrace
and breathe in the mix of dust and rain
like a lover’s musk.
– Sarah Russell
First published in The Houseboat
Painting by Rafaelll90 Digital Art
Sarah Russell Poetry 
What lovely refreshing thoughts, exquisite
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Thanks so much!
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So subtle, hmmm, makes my poem “Waterways” look a bit brash
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Different styles, that’s all. Male/female maybe? Hey BTW, do I call you Ivors?
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Ivor, an old family Welsh name. Thanks Sarah, I’m an infant “blogger ” of one week
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Perfect!
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Thanks so much, Dorinda.
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You’re very welcome.
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wonderful and refreshing. i am hoping for a bit of rain at my house –
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Always a blessing. At least in Colorado where we are visiting now. It seems Colorado always needs rain. Thanks for stopping by, Beth.
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Reblogged this on Stevie's Law and commented:
From Sarah Russell.
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Thanks, Steve!
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One of my favorite scents and words. This poem deeply evokes that smell, that feeling in the air. I used petrichor in my last poem.
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Thanks so much, Kanzen. I remembered when you used it in the quadrille. You are in a time of personal watershed and change. I think these 2 last poems of yours reflect that. Thinking of you. It’s a hard passage.
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Love the title word and that refreshing drop of rain like a lover’s musk ~
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I didn’t know the word petrichor until a couple of years ago, although it is one of my favorite scents. Had to write a poem for it.
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Superb. I bookmarked this to read it again!
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Thanks, Jennifer!
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Another one of my favorites tonight. Superb!
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Thank you, ZQ. I’m enjoying your blog.
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I love that scent of rain.. it’s a wonderful thing the petrichor- especially after such a sveltering day.
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One of my favorite scents too. Thanks for stopping by, Bjorn. I’ve been traveling today, so was late getting my poem in and in reading them. I’m starting at the end and moving forward. Stay tuned. I’ll get to yours!
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Beautiful delicate lines.
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Thanks, Linda.
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The onset of the rains so beautifully pictured and expressed. Very well penned.
-HA
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Thanks for stopping by, Ha, I’m enjoying your poetry too.
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It’s a beautiful scent, isn’t it? Immaculate observation, with all the senses.
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Thanks so much. Yes, a beautiful scent!
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Beautifully told!
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Thank you so muchQ
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I could feel the tension burst in this one. Beautiful!
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Thank you, Jane. I hadn’t thought of it as tension, but that’s exactly what it feels like.
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It’s always a relief when the heat breaks and the rain falls.
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I savored every line. I love watching a rain approach, and the pungent smell of those first drops on waiting earth. Thanks for taking me there!
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I love that anticipation too, Bev. Thanks for stopping by.
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Nice! A heady mixture of images with a very satisfying last line!
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Thanks a lot, Nosaint!
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Filled with so much kissable imagery! Musk to describe the scent of rain is pure brilliance!
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Oooo, thanks Jilly. “Kissable imagery.” Love it!
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Beautiful! Beautiful! So sensual in the best way possible. Excellent, evocative.
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High praise. Thank you so much!
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I love the part about the earth cracking with longing.
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Thanks, Jenna. That’s what It seems like to me. Glad you liked it too.
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I love this…waiting for the rain that has to come…I am a human barometer… my fingers swell like sausages and the pain is unbearable until those fat drops of rain hit the ground…love that you have captured this.
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What a relief it must be when the rain comes. Thanks for stopping by.
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Nice description of rain after a long dry spell.
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Thanks, Frank.
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This poem could be seen as a lovely imagist poem – a capture of a dry summer day finally breaking with the exquisite chill of a cold front bring big splats of rain pouring down the plains with sand blowing in front of it. But it is also an effective metaphor for any number of situations when the break to monotony, or the inability to write, or create in other way is broken by inspiration, by a breakthrough, by a storm of creativity. I think this poem works very well on all those levels. Fine work!
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Thanks so much for your comment, Gay. I hadn’t seen the poem as a metaphor, but that’s exactly how inspiration happens, isn’t it. I love it when readers see more than I did. Makes me think I’m doing something right. High praise indeed!
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I dwell in your closing lines.. sigh… beautiful!❤️
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Aw, thanks so much, Sanaa.
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Yes to all of this, Sarah. Beautiful.
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Thank you. One of my favorite words — and scents!
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Mine, too. I even said that to my husband the other day while we were out walking just after it had rained–and before we got drenched in the next downpour. 🙂
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Amazing work
Beautiful post
Visit mine
http://shivashishspeaks.wordress.com/
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Thanks. I’ll visit soon.
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I loved this line “Maybe they know
what’s coming, or they’re tired of asking.”
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Thanks, Aparna.
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