we wake to grayness
flash flood warnings
and mud slides on the news
constant rain pelting on roofs
small lakes and ponds in yards
drainpipes pulsing and gushing
evacuation a rare but possibility
monsoon in California
Categories:
drainpipes, change, rain,
Form: Free verse
A droplet or two surprises your face,
Misty, liquid-like lace...
Early Spring shower, heavenly dew,
Softens the earth, revives anew.
Machine-gun bullets tempering a roof,
Tempest's reproof...
Torrents of memory cascading down,
Drainpipes alive, gushing sound.
Trigger for sky-werks of lightning and thunder:
Prelude to awe and wonder.
Categories:
drainpipes, memory, rain, senses,
Form: Rhyme
drainpipes rattle on
as the downpour cleans the walk
papier-mâché news
so much for coupons
today is full price
Categories:
drainpipes, spring,
Form: Tanka
The Devil’s Footprints
9 February, 1855
The last snowfall was at midnight
and we found the hoof marks at six o’clock
the following morning.
They stretched on for over a hundred miles,
mostly in straight lines,
over houses, hayricks and rivers,
on snow-covered walls and rooftops,
leading up to and exiting drainpipes.
We set forth with pitchforks,
and my dogs cowered in the woods.
Surely they were the cloven hooves of the Devil!
Some neighbours had other theories:
shackles from the mooring ropes of a balloon,
badgers, rats, otters, cats, swans and mice,
kangaroos, escaped from a private zoo,
mass hysteria on various different animals’ prints,
hoaxers having a joke…
But no one ever found out for sure.
Categories:
drainpipes, mystery
Form: Free verse