Spates of rain assail the shoreline,
dousing its surface in rivulets of Pacific salt.

I tiptoe into the deluge, a scene
bathed in muted daylight.

Blades of river reeds graze
against the shore, thickets lilting

with the rise of the autumn wind,                                                                                                  an air already drenched in angst.

Clouds tinted with charcoal unfurl
into thickened crescents, swelling

with each palpitation. Swaths
of darkness nestle further into doubts

Darting into the shrouds of gray,
the sensation of an uncanny calm emerges.

Grace Xu