Rain
It is raining this evening
A constant droning drizzle
From a grey and opaque constant sky
A sky like an end of the world bunker
without the budget for televisual fakery
The rain is not heavy enough
So that the trees do not provide a measure of protection
But anyone without a jacket, hat, or hood is going to have a really bad day
And this is still day, darker than usual on the cusp of sunset
Somewhere above the clouds
Not cold, but then again not warm
Comfortable enough without overthinking it
The rain has been here all afternoon
Small acts of flooding, trace evidence the blind could find
Concrete paths are slick with water and the detritus of autumn trees
For autumn is well and truly here
The trees shedding and changing
Loosing chlorophyll to time and fall
Giving way to Anthocyanis, Caroteniods, and Xanthophill
The red, orange, and yellow of album cover and calendar
We have the park almost all to ourselves
My dog and I, and of course the birds
Grounded by the rain and the hunt for worms
Images of Hitchcockian ecological catastrophe
Masquerading as just another thriller
There is a rain suited couple walking their golden retriever
And the ever-present teens on e-bikes
A trigger for “grumpy old man” -dom
And the right-winger buried deep within us all
Who need to be suppressed
But otherwise it’s just us and the rain
And like a new stanza
It begins to change
The rain becomes a finer drizzle
The sky lightens but still a constant cyclorama of even color
But now with a pinkish hue
The hidden fire of sunset
Bleeding through the dystopian monochrome
Then the sky is color
The rain stopped by pink and red
The colors of fall leaves transposed all around and above
A break in the opacity as sunset explodes in the distance
Like some else’s catastrophe
On this autumn evening
Yet another mother nature magic trick
And I am reminded of why I walk in the rain
This connection to something other than society
Grasping for greater meaning in the simple pleasure of being surprised
At the joy of being
In the park.
Image by PublicDomainPictures from Pixabay
