Attention Is All

Builders xeriscaped this subdivision
With swaths of stone in various sizes
So that water would be trapped under rocks
To pool, then to be absorbed more slowly.
By and large, the design performs poorly,

And, as a consequence, sort of a wash
Has evolved along the margins of stone—
Dry and sandy most of the time, faintly
Damp after the odd shower, and rarely,
Rarely but alarmingly, a flash flood

Of brown gook that could snatch your ankles,
Club you with tumbling fist-sized and skull-sized
Loose rock. Today, the bare stripe is fine sand,
And, as a teenager, you don’t notice it,
Except when your attention’s called to it.