The rain falls in May
and clings to the nascent flowers.
Transparent crystals
adorning the trees.
The green gray curtain
pours onto the grass
creating a resonant melody
for an audience unseen.
Light showers carry
the heavy weight of the clouds,
filled with contrast and irony
in every particle:
Tranquility in the face of violence;
Rebirth defying extinction;
Pure, cleansing droplets
roll down the blood-stained roses.
Day after day,
Year after year,
It sustains us.
Even as the droughts grow closer
and the fires burn.
By Michael McPhie