Rain

The sky dispensing rain. Rain which asks questions

of the wind. Rain too late for my friend’s funeral.

Singing in the rain while dancing in the rain and laughing

at people who sing and dance in the rain.

If time could be paused on that Monday morning,

there would be rain for all time. Rain

which punches above its weight. Rain which

quotes Shakespeare but doesn’t understand

any of the words. Windswept, mysterious rain.

Irrational rain. Rain that cut its teeth on

a mountainside. The impossibility of being rain.

Rain which no one saw coming. Rain which

engineered a situation of plausible deniability.

The rain which fell because it jumped. Rain

which was never meant to be rain. Rain which

turned itself into poetry. Last Thursday,

it rained, sort of. Minuscule rain. The raging

ocean which lost its way and became

a downpour, and everyone ran out into the street

saying, ‘Hallelujah!’ Rain as punctuation.

Intellectual rain. Pretentious rain.

Rain with a philosophical bent. Pop rain.

Serious rain. Hardworking rain.

The rain which became invisible when it

played hide and seek. The rain which made

the first rainbow, somewhere unimaginably

distant from here in both time and space.

Petulant rain. Inadmissible rain. Rain

which was illegible to the other rain. Rain

with an indefinite article, just to confuse

non-native speakers. Non-rhyming rain.

Christian rain. Rain which became

dogmatic on its way to the supermarket.

The wild and reckless rain of an impulsive

thunderstorm, which didn’t pause to consider

the consequences of its drenching.

Could you point me in the direction of the

nearest rain? Rain which has no voice.

Rain which is always arguing with the

pavement. Rain which refuses to

stop raining once it’s begun. Rain

which hates similes. Basket-case rain.

Collapsible rain. Distraught rain.

Best ever rain ever.