by David Chorlton
I Today
Wet and windless as the shade
of the sky darkens from the Mohave
to the city. Possibility of a smile
breaking through
five per cent.
II Overnight
High chance of weeping after midnight
when sleeplessness rides
the south wind and enters by a door
forced open.
Outdoor lows of forty to forty five.
The shiver in the spine
hits freezing point.
III Tomorrow
Mostly peaceful domestically. Storms
may occur in countries under occupation
where temperatures will be close
to normal: fever.
IV Weekend
Sudden shift from prosperity
to nervousness, followed by
a period of introspection beneath low
cloud. A period of calm
will last until the dawn of business
when showers of gold
are expected to fall
on upper class neighbourhoods.
V Outlook
Election campaigning at low elevations
to continue indefinitely, broken by short
bursts of optimism, and long term
prospects of war with appropriately
located windfall profits.
David Chorlton lives in Phoenix, writes and paints and keeps track of local wildlife. His newest book, The Porous Desert, was published this summer by FutureCycle Press, and testifies to his having internalised the desert during the past twenty-nine years. Some of his art work can be seen at http://www.davidchorlton.mysite.com/.