Lake Chapala Beltane

I watch, across the lake,
dark arms of  falling water,
rainfall pouring on the mountains.
The sea of the lake  pitches and rolls
from the south and east
with the Guaracheño wind,
night descending now,
drama building,
sudden coolness
congealing the greengray waves.

Lovers on the Malecon
only give attention to each other
though perhaps their ardency
feeds the growing storm.
At the edge of water
a musician lifts his saxophone
to send his trills into the mix.

Lightning flashes horizontal
kissing the hills like a hissing snake
in a singular blaze of passion.
And again, prone,
this time lightning
swaddles the long line of hills
in its white blanket of illumination.
Finally it stabs, vertical to earth.
Staccato!
Every strike, I gasp in gratitude.

The rain begins in gentle drops.
The saxman stays, and the lovers,
and so must I, revel in
this world, this weather, this being alive.

©Susa Silvermarie 2018

*Beltane is a Pagan high holy day held on May 1, midway between Spring Equinox and Summer Solstice. Lake Chapala, shallow and fifty miles in length, 5000 feet above sea level, is located just south of Guadalajara in central Mexico.