Praying for Rain

by James Tighe

In the throes of a summer-into-fall drought
a pure blue October Mississippi sky shimmers on high
like an air-brushed false god
To the east Hurricane Matthew rolls north along Florida’s Atlantic coast
Dylan’s Love & Theft voice rasps through my open window
Dying grass underfoot is brittle as fallen autumn leaves
Staring at the sterile, cloudless sky while Dylan sings:
Only one thing I did wrong, stayed in Mississippi a day too long
which happens to be a line he plagiarized from my own unwritten theme song
Sometimes I wonder about the public figure Bob Dylan
and his long career as a composer and singer of songs
Is it just a job?
Does he rely on rhyme too much?
Does he ever get tired of being the coolest cat in the room?
Is he a prisoner of his art? As everyone is hostage to rainfall?
Soy bean growers like a dry harvest season
Sweet potato farmers don’t
North American Indians chant and dance
recalcitrant rainclouds into existence
Inuit peoples on winter Arctic nights
hold hands outside in a big circle and “whistle down” the Northern Lights

Tags: James Tighe, poetry, The Local Voice, tlv, Writing

About the Author

TLV News The Local Voice is a bimonthly entertainment guide and newspaper based in Oxford, Mississippi, covering and distributed in North Central Mississippi, including Oxford, Ole Miss, Taylor, Abbeville, Water Valley, Lafayette County, Yalobusha County, and parts of Panola County, Marshall County, and Tupelo . The Local Voice is distributed free to over 255 locations in North Mississippi and also available as a full color PDF download worldwide on the internet.