Rain Lament
by Mac Mitchell
gravity issues unassailable edicts
inevitably
all our busted unholdable hearts
fall through tired arms
and the whole world is the pouring rain
coming down in sheets
grayer
than all the music
from the street musician playing
the corner of the coffee shop
two new strangers in the middle of the rain
exchange short silences
like handshakes and stand like monuments
to something unfinished
and almost majestic
I’m holding your hand
and you look away
at all the people making you feel small
offering sold-out words
and consolation chocolates
you say “tell me a story
it’s raining so hard
I can’t stop shaking”
so I pull out some words
the way I used to do
about a fire escape and a burning town,
and a man named Zacchaeus hustling around,
scrambling up a light pole
to catch just one
glimpse of salvation
when he rounds the corner
by the coffee shop
the words, my little routines
break down into a begotten silence
until all that’s left
to breathe in
is a fall and the music in the rain.
Mac Mitchell graduated from Belhaven University with degrees in creative writing and theatre. He writes poetry and plays, and short bios, mostly. His current favorite poets are T.S. Eliot and Neil Hilborn. His current favorite playwright is Sam Shepard.