First Rain

Never a drop of rain on Arrakis?*

Never a drop of rain upon the Earth.
There was a time in eons unimaginable
When dust was all despite the starlight's search.
Lengthening shadows on the hellish rocks,
Where, even the idea of liquid water
Was absent since the Sun had given birth.
Dunes and scaling mud, volcanoes risen
Are all that stretched to the dry horizon
And that which was, lay silent under heaven.

But, look! The skies are brooding now with cloud

And crackling air is booming into sound.
The voice of lightning makes its speech aloud
And lectures to the endless desert.
Small pats of moisture hit the ground
And Earth awakens from her burning shroud,
Water, in its sheets, comes slashing down
And planets raise their voice with joyous tears.
The storm has come
And it will rain ten thousand years.

Carl Estrin *Herbert/Dune