december rain

sparrows standing outside my door sparrows lined up on the sidewalk for crumbs i'll throw and the world is turning the sky is falling this morning someone somewhere fights a war a woman at the bus station cries the world is ending but it’s only the end of the year and it is raining when i’m sitting at my table looking at a veil of clouds playing an old song over and over thinking old love never dies remembering every line and word and the river just below the hill always flows when i glance out the window see a mother and daughter walking hand-in-hand to the store talking and as I reach into my dreams i know some conversations never end i remember years ago when i stood in a corner store a day in spring when my older cousin bought me packs of beatles bubble gum cards and now it’s december another day and i must ask if this is the ending of all i know or i'm learning to live again