late summer rain
sudden showers
skies open up their arms
and I thought it would be to hold me

you look past my shoulder
through me
so as not to see me

stalking desert with my anvil
I railed, I hailed
tore at the snow shepherds
watching over the land
for a reason

where you used to dream
cataracts
cries unseen

inside
your clouds shiver down on me
distilling all the warmth
out of existence

outside
you are irreversibly resolute
distant dying mountain
shouldering a heavy pack
shuddering at what we carry
with us

it is easy now to think
me an apparition
while you walk away