Prayer For Rain

acrylic on canvas – 24″ X 18″
© 2022 Sandra Ware

Bruised bellied clouds are gathering
Currents electric stir in parched earth
          Pray for rain

Pray that soft thunder build to roaring rumble
Pray for lightning, white hot, fork-tongued herald of rebirth
          Send to Father Sky
          Send to Mother Earth

          Let the rains fall!

© 2017 Sandra Ware

In the Sonoran Desert there are many times that thunder clouds will gather with the teasing possibility of much needed rain. And yet, the rain does not fall, or comes only in the form of virga, a thin mist that evaporates before its moisture can ever reach the desert floor. The painting is a prayer that the massing clouds will this time produce a true life-nourishing downpour.

The raven that sits on the rock is the messenger of the Void who may also carry prayers back to Great Mystery. The snake petroglyph on the face of the rock represents the chtonic forces within the earth. The zig-zag motion of the snake is symbolic of lightning – the rain bringer.