Caught in the Rain

Caught in the Rain May 6, 2019

I saw a woman sitting in a café

in Barcelona. She had the loneliest

stare. She fiddled with her espresso

for the longest time. Then I took

in everyone and realized we’re all

still-lifes waiting to be finished

by our next meeting.

 

It takes a quiet courage to slip

from our regrets the way you

might step from wet clothes

after being caught in the rain.

 

What is it about these flowers

trampled by a horse? Or the broken

glass being swept by the old woman?

Or the time I chanced to see a hawk

break through a cloud? Everything

I see, I’ve been or will be.

 

 

A Question to Walk With: Describe a moment in which you felt a kinship to all things. What detail or presence opened this feeling for you?

  

This poem is from my book, The Way Under the Way (Sounds True, 2016), a Nautilus Award Winner.

 

*Photo credit: Evan Ip


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