Night Rain

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by Ann Stanford


I wake with the rain.
It has surprised me.
First, delight,
Then I think of outdoors:
The shovels and rakes I left in the garden
Rusting now in the mist,
The splintering of handles.
I think of car windows open
Tricycles
Canvas cots, trash cans
The hay uncovered
Mildew.

Well, they are out.
And the animals -
The cat, he is gone
The dog is the neighbor's
The horses have a tin roof
If they will stay under it.
And the wild things are there -
Birds, wet in the trees,
Deer in the brush, rabbits in hiding.
The leaves will all be washed
The wild lilacs, the walnuts.

I am sleepy and warm
I dream of the great horned owl
Snatching birds like plums out of trees.

Comments

  1. Batteson.IndSeptember 27, 2009 at 6:23 AM

    How familier a sound this over here :-)... though, we are getting a bit of an indian summer, it hasn't rained almost all month .. this is a very.. very good thing. Hope your week-end went well and nice to hear your lecture fell into place :-D

    ReplyDelete
  2. GailSeptember 27, 2009 at 7:51 AM

    Rain is music to my ears. Wonderful poem, it echoes my thoughts.

    ReplyDelete
  3. dsSeptember 27, 2009 at 10:06 AM

    Oh, perfect. It is raining today; the poet's thoughts are in synch with my own! Thank you.

    ReplyDelete
  4. aimsSeptember 27, 2009 at 11:12 AM

    From the ugliness of your days come these beautiful words - over and over again.

    ReplyDelete
  5. UnknownSeptember 27, 2009 at 11:44 AM

    wonderful! rain...fell asleep to the sound last night myself...smiles.

    ReplyDelete
  6. KathleenSeptember 27, 2009 at 2:36 PM

    And I always wonder what happens to the birds when it rains . . .

    ReplyDelete
  7. debraSeptember 28, 2009 at 7:16 AM

    I also woke with the rain--the old dogs freak out with wind and thunder and lightning. Then the sound of the rain on the metal roof of this old house lulled me back to sleep.

    ReplyDelete

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Hey, thanks for your thoughts and your time:>)

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