Poems Niederngasse
Susan McDonough
Clouded Thoughts

The sun isn't out and I am happy.
sol de sonoran is the deserts
most dependable perenniel.
Gray sky  beckons me from my
air-conditioned oasis.  Deeply,
I breathe in a hint of humidity
just the way I'd take in a wiff
of a 1999 Chehalem Pinot Noir .

The dog who stubbornly
refused to go outside yesterday
(it was only a hundred and twelve degrees)
is leisurely sprawled out on the straw-like
Bermuda. His eyes flutter closed,
all  four legs in a dreamy gallop.
No doubt he's dreaming about

the rabbits five feet away, as they
linger over ragged mounds of Ruellia.
They look calm,  oblivious to me--
maybe even to danger, though noses
twitch monitoring as they munch.
I'll assume from history that
outrunning superdog is a given.
But, I am curious to know
if they think that Harris Hawks
fly only in fair skies.

round I, poem 15, 31 Jul 2005

Susan McDonough lives in the Sonoran Desert where she is the tamer of two teenagers. Her poetry appears in a variety of print and online journals. email: Susan McDonough