The monsoon rains come to our desert in the summer, when the temperature is highest. The winds shift to the SE, bringing moisture from both the Gulf of Mexico and the Gulf of California. The rains come as huge, black, thunder storms over the mountains, driven by vivid lightning and high winds. It also provides a magical drop in temperature. The magnificent odor of the desert after a rain is a rich, organic experience. After the storm I sit on my patio, in the cool fall of night - watching the shadows changing on the mountains as the sun declines. Recently, after such a storm, the sun is dying in various shades of ocher and vermillion... The crescent moon rises, and the planet Venus soon follows. Venus is a bright diamond in the now black sky. I write in my notebook: Venus is a Bright Point of Expression in the Sky. Thus, a poem is born.