Classic Poem

The blue lagoon is a sudden gray,
The tallest palm sways in the breeze,
And petals in sodden purple heaps
Pile up beneath the China trees.

Rose and hibiscus droop in rags,
The swift drops splash against the wall;
And on the courtyard's yellow tiles,
One after one the almonds fall.

Then the gray lagoon is a sudden blue,
The downpour stops, the wind is dead;
And from an oleander trunk,
A jet-black lizard lifts its head.