Rain

Previously published in Yellow Medicine Review

The dreamt-of people are more numerous than us.  But take no space…
Tomas Transtromer

They gather around me,
shimmering the air,
recalling for me
the days and people past.

Mostly, when they remember,
it's simple;
strong brewed coffee,
lilacs in bloom,
just cut grass,
wet leaves in fall, or
thunder during a summer's morning storm.

Sometimes, though, it's more complicated,
because they have their own
dreamt-of people;
It's like looking into a mirror,
into another,
and again, again, again.

They recall for me those people
whose endings were retold in newspapers
tucked into Mom's hand-stitched leather purse,
the one she kept hidden in her closet
away from prying child eyes.

Or they recall for me those people
whose stories were placed in Grandma's scrapbook
where every misfortune that fell upon her small town
were gathered together in yellowed pages
bound with a delicate cord.

When it's like that,
to hide their sadness,
they laugh and drink in remembrance,
just like we do,
and clink their glasses
over my head.

I duck–
dream shards
raining upon me.