When I first read this poem, I looked up the title, Arroyo: 1) A deep gully cut by an intermittent stream, a dry gulch. 2) A brook; a creek. I feel this is a persona poem where we get perspective of an Arroyo, as well as another entity there "living" through the experience.
The poem starts out with a curt opening statement, "In this place we define things." which is then followed by the fragment, "In terms of absence." In my mind, I think both sentences go together, something like "In this place we define things in terms of absence." But the period in the middle separates the ideas, and with being so abrupt absence is noted. I do think the two sentences are different ideas to punctuate absence like, "No new air. No saving grace." No salvation in place.
"Our suspicion is: There are better ways of understanding. [Number them.]" The punctuation slows down each statement and makes me wonder: Who is the "our"? I made a claim that it could be the arroyo and another entity, and if it is true, what is this entity? With their suspicion being "better ways of understanding" the brackets of the next statement also asks who they are commanding to "[number them.]?" This complex sequence of trying to figure out "better ways" ends with a conclusion of "We watch the sky." Note a conclusion, not a solution.
The poem further defines absence in the second stanza, "It doesn't rain for weeks. Instead of parched, say available." The first sentence gives a direct statement of the lack of rain, as well as gives a sense of time passing. The next sentence is the first instance we have a comma and it is used to separate euphemisms "parched" versus "available". There's a certain desperation with parched which is real in a poem like this. "Available," feels to have a more positive connotation like being "available" to help or take on another shift. This patter of comparing euphemisms continues with "Not barren but open." "Barren" vs "open" -- again the latter have feels to have a more positive connotation than barren.
The poem shifts to, "There are people here who say they know the future." This statement brings a bigger sense of mysticism but separation -- "they know" versus "We know our future already. We say no thank you." The entities experiencing the available and open lack of rain knows the future and says "no thank you" to the other.
"After days of heat, the clouds can bowl us over. We stagger. [We'd rather stagger.]" The "we" knew this future would happen. If not why would "we" rather stagger in the heat and the clouds that bowl them over. What brings on this stubbornness of individualism from these entities? Their identity. They are this arroyo that just needs to be an arroyo. "We say we are filled already with molecules. [Thanks anyway.] We are humungous with sky." Whatever place they are, it's their place, their struggles, their open availability, their sky.
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