A Prayer for Rain

To quote WILLIS, I think I like when it rains.

I wish it were raining every time we kissed

That way I would have something else to notice

Besides the way my lungs collapse in my chest

Or how I give in to your cautious touch

Becoming a fool for you is painful

But thankfully, I am a glutton for pain

Some day I'll be punished

For giving up parts of myself

To the moon and the clouds

Instead of the rain that cleanses my skin

And everything underneath

The rain can come after those sleepless nights

Caused either because I know now what it means

To be fully embraced by a blanket of euphoria

Or because I can never bring myself

To close my eyes

For more than some sparse minutes

When I am surrounded by your smell

I told you that I loved waking up in your shirt

Because your essence lingered on it

But I never thought that I could confess

To you or an indifferent audience

That I woke up before my alarm

Because I confused a ghost of your loveliness

For your mercurial presence

One day your scent will be replaced

By that of drowning grass and misplaced soil

And the rushing water draining into the sewers

Will replace the pretty sounds that flowed out

Past your lips, but stayed within your walls

I don't know if I am ready for it to rain without you

So for now I'll keep wishing--

Wishing for it to rain every time we kiss

Image description: The corner of Glen Washington Road and Kimball Avenue, facing the Sarah Lawrence College sign in front of the Barbara Walters Center. It is a rainy night, and the streetlights and traffic lights reflect on the raindrops. The roads are empty.