When it rains
Then the sun pushes, then pops through
The persistent cloud cover
With seconds of glistening
On newly fallen, still soaking
Leaves in various stages
Changing pigments,
north facing trunk shadows,
tiny tufts of bright green
Optimistic grass shoots, so late
With colder temperature, but newly fed
In the wet damp earth,
At the end of the back lot
all manner of greens, orange, and deeper violet
create the landscape silhouette,
fast winds test the strength
of gangly low Maple branches,
Behind which a sky, without a hint of blue,
yet full of furiously dense nimbostratus clouds
push past the lighter fluffy stuff,
open throttles
released at the sky speedway,
Apparent black lap flags wave as
blackbirds take this moment
to course through the backfield
drying wing feathers between downpours,
Another leaf falls near the old wooden gate, as
the wind picks up a notch
With 80% conditions of expectant rain
By the hour
