Raindance for California

Stretching, reaching, straining, dry,
      Lake Oroville, Shasta, Don Pedro, McClure
We suck the ground, we gasp the sky,
      Trinity, Tahoe, Clear Lake, Pardee

Dusty branches slapping our sides,
      Hetch Hetchy, Lake Almanor, New Bullards Bar
Stinging dry tears from the groundwater’s hide,
      Millerton, Pine Flat, Folsom, Stampede

We melt the rocks in the creek bone trails,
      Lake Oroville, Shasta, Don Pedro, McClure
A stone libation over shriveled scales,
      Trinity, Tahoe, Clear Lake, Pardee

When deserts are fertile, ravines in flood,
      Hetch Hetchy, Lake Almanor, New Bullards Bar
Then water again can be our blood,
      Millerton, Pine Flat, Folsom, Stampede

While any of us may yet remain,
      Lake Oroville, Shasta, Don Pedro, McClure
Dance! Pray! Call down the rain!
      Trinity, Tahoe, Clear Lake, Pardee