Stitches of rain

July 13, 1982

The morning sways

With currents of rain

Liquid

Dripping drop by drop

From rusting elbows

Of drains

The window is dark

With Brillo-faced clouds,

And steamed

With worry,

Another year, you think

And laugh, and close the shades

Another number

That marches up behind your name.

When you were young

You sewed them on,

Stitch by stitch

Marking sure they stayed fast

But like Penelope

You pause now, with prayer

Passing the night with pinchers

To pull them out

You weave no years

Inside of you

Nor stitched a numbered belt

Around your waist

Instead you watch

The June wind wind

Its weary wonders

Mixed with drips of undropped rain

The drains groan and grumble

The windows glaze

The morning comes again

And speaks of birth,

Birds chirping ponderously

From under the porch

Somewhere,

Tires swish on the road like waves

You wonder after them

As if after a wandering husband

But Odysseus is home

And Telemachos

Grows within you

Another storm