Day 14 of National Poetry Writing Month (NaPoWriMo) 

Today’s NaPoWriMo prompt:

try writing a poem that describes a place, particularly in terms of the animals, plants or other natural phenomena there. Sink into the sound of your location, and use a conversational tone. Incorporate slant rhymes (near or off-rhymes, like “angle” and “flamenco”) into your poem. And for an extra challenge – don’t reference birds or birdsong!

Here we go:

Pilgrim Ridge

Atop Pilgrim Ridge, miles from nowhere – 
no, that’s not an apt description;
Nowhere is quite near, in fact it’s right here –
crisp, pure silence defies definition
until one acclimates to the endless sky,
the light savory air,
the rocky ground stubbled in dry
remains of early summer wildflowers.

Leaning into the silence, one begins to hear
the percussive opening of a breeze-soft symphony;
gentle crackling of seed pods, split as the sun bears
down, the shaker of seed shot falling to ground,
a brush-on-cymbal swish of grasses swaying together,
the guiro scrabble of chipmunks skittering up
skinny pines to hide in long-needled shelter.
And then the music ratchets up.

The chipmunks begin their cuíca scoldings.
Wind chimes low tones in the clustered trees,
now weaving. Grasses are folding in the
hot air. A steady push now; no longer a breeze.
Clouds scuttle in and the thunder drum shakes,
first slow and lumbering, then brash, a 
crescendoing rumble
that ends with a lightning-bright quake,
and the diminuendo of tambourine rain.

Cuíca Sounds