Richard Shelton
- once a year
when infallible toads
begin to sing
all the spiders who left me
return and I make room for them
- I am too proud
to mention their long absence
- then the owls
send a message in code
from saguaro to saguaro
and the toads stop singing
- a sea of warm air
rolls over quickly and relaxes
we wait for the promised rain
for the second coming
of water
- each time it arrives
like the flood and I know
I have not wasted my life
- spiders still come
to my house for shelter
From Selected Poems 1969 - 1981 by Richard Shelton, © 1982 Richard Shelton. All rights are controlled by the University of Pittsburgh Press, Pittsburgh, PA 15260. Used by permission of the University of Pittsburgh Press.
Back to the Introduction
Back to Day 1
Back to Day 2
