August 2: Inclemency

A summer in the midst of coastal scrub

Is not a normal time or place for rain,

As evidenced by copiousness of shrubs:

That’s all our meager rainfall can sustain.

And so an August beach bonfire would seem

To be a suitable, in-season thing,

So much so that no-one would ever dream

That climate might preclude the reveling.

Surprise! Unseasonable humidity

And low gray clouds composed of more than mist

Required of plans certain fluidity,

Until a lightning strike that barely missed.

While weather wreaked impre...