After Rain

After the rain: the gnawing of crickets,

sun-scorched leaves.

A bird harrowing far away inside

the drier hemisphere of your mind.

Earth wet with the after rain

dankness of blessing.

Snails sliming slowly through the thick

forest of this cerebral haven;

their silvery trail said to hold healing within.

You watch it grow like shrub

in the fertile ground of your heart-

days well spent, shivering in the dew

and drop of Golden Hill’s schizophrenia-

the glitter of this bipolarity

lighting dark days.

-Nicholas Damion Alexander