Agnes Martin wrote a poem about the genesis of this painting, "Parable of the Equal Hearts":

"Once there were two lovers that had equal hearts./One would pursue one,/the other would pursue the other.//Then the angels looked down and said:/“What a waste,” and made them perceive each other./Their hearts melted into one.//They had no use for the world/so they leaped into the swift river./This heart was always restless/and the only place where it had any rest at all was on the beach.//But even on the beach one said:/“I wish we’d never been made one.”/And immediately one half flew up in the sky/and the other half into the sea./But they yearned for each other./And when it rained the one in the sea said:/“This is a message from my other half in the sky.”/And when the water was evaporated from the ocean and rose/up, the other said:/“This is a message from my other half in the sea.”//The angels were stumped./There’s one thing that God is not able to endure –/a suffering heart./He felt one half in the sky and one half in the sea.//God thought what to do./So the one in the sky fell down into the sea/and immediately both turned to sea water./Ever since that time when the water is drawn up from the sea/and it rains this is not an ordinary rain. It’s the rain/that affects people and softens them./I painted a painting called This Rain."

("Writings", 2005)