44 Dog-days I Rain-running Recalled Hard wind, rain; I the only one out here. Wind on my back, rattle of rain on hat, Hissing of rain on sand, and beyond that The noise of the big waves; and small and clear A whimbrel’s call in the din as I draw near A roaring down the cliff and over the flat Hard beach — an hour-old river I halt at, My glasses streaming. The world is a bright smear. Into a gale now, and the ocean sound Drowned out by the new howling of the air Around my head, then even louder pounds The hough! hough! of my lungs inside this blur Of boisterous air, cliffs, water — startled mind Along for the ride, body with its old kind. — August 11, 1978 88