Storm Chaser

Melanie Hess

last week the riverbed cracked,

its veins like autumn leaves,

plows and combines idle in fields

dinosaurs on the verge of extinction

my joints simmer

with arms and legs splayed star-shaped

in an old plantation rocker

I imagine the wettest place on earth

and watch a scout ant migrate up the kitchen tap

in search of water for the queen

the sky shifts mood

releasing a peaty potpourri

the squall appears windward.

I grab the monkey on my back

we gobble the rain

jabbering whirling eddies

my skirt swirling like Carmen Miranda

More from Melanie ↓

• @alohamonkey on Instagram
• Her book Bread and Bone is out now

You can listen to me read Picture This by Melanie over on Instagram @rembrandts.cure