Detritus Dance: A Prayer

Cassius nearly cooed,
then actually crooned
with unexpected pleasure-

well-read, unaffected poetry
miraculously piped into his car radio
while he wound his way through
the sensuous and undulating hills
of Sonoma County on the way to
visit his bosom brother and
his wacky new wife.

And there amid the new grass,
the striking sun now unstuck
after a three day rain,
a calf suckling sweetly at the udder,
and farther along a plastic bag
dancing fleetly and forlorn
in a barbed-wire embrace...

then ..

something akin to rhythm
drove his inner voice.

It was the first time
in many months.

And he was happy-
gave prayerful thanks
while rain clouds in the distance,
toward the sea,
gathered, darkening.