A Simple Rain
The earth is hushed
Those with places to go hurry inside
As outside the sky
Opens up
Sorrow splits the light
Windows crack open to catch the sound
Of God weeping
Over creation
Determined tears set to work
Washing away the dust,
Caressing away our
Selfish mess
Ebb and flow
Picking up speed with dazzling beads of light
Slashing down in
Sliver quick flight
Human noise dulling to a distant thrum
Quieting gently the angry pulse
Traffic lights smudging to a
Removed softness lit aglow
Then a last promising violent fury of gathering force
Before finally fading away with job undone
It was much too big a task anyway,
Maybe even for God
The homeless emerge once again from under the eaves
The beaten and downtrodden return to re-light their smokes
Lining up against Social Services and hospital walls
While somewhere at the edge of a forest the
Undiscovered bones of someone’s long-forgotten child
Resume their longing wait
All of it barely touched
Set glistening for a brief moment
Before sighing away on a dying hope
As the sounds of life pick up again
Yes, much too big a job
For such a simple rain,
To clean up all of these stains
We’ve made