Natural Birth

Impregnated clouds float their wanton
Bellies over the horizon of a darkening sky
They linger, stretching, the sound from
Their wombs roaring with the need of release
From their safe, sweet prison
The steel gray flesh strikes open
With a rush of water, the fluid of its life,
Bathing its bed of sky with
Cold perspiration as it gives birth
The dry, infertile earth opens its mouth
Wide, tongue stretching eagerly
For the first drops of ecstasy, of life,
Gulping down the cold liquid
And allowing it to soak down to the
Seeds that have
Shriveled down into the hard rock,
Hiding from the perverted sun’s
Relentless rape
Now the seeds rise,
Suckling babes of the paled clouds,
With bloodied fingers spreading,
Chapped lips moistened with soft kisses
Of milk as it slows,
Emptied of its nectar
And the first pink rays of morning light,
Of reprieve from the onslaught,
Glow through the transparent flesh
Of the newborn blossoms,
Warming them into rest.