"The Children

I heard the mouths of the silent
dying of departure

if we could only remember
the water before it froze
they said

learn this I told them
it is not true
but it will keep you warm in winter

my words
fell on their delicate shoulders
like whips

we are thirsty they said
their dry laughter was desperate

take this cup i told them
and wait for the rain

put your wilted hands
over your eyes
and believe in the coming of light"

--Richard Shelton, The Tattooed Desert (1971)