Rain

 

The rain is drumming on the drainpipe

Like a mad percussionist,

Making a sound of safety, shelter,

The swaddling ingenuity of man.

 

This is why we build houses:

For days like this, rains like this rain.

This house was built for the dead –

Generations of them;

Now the living live here,

At least for a time;

And when we pass onward,

Others will follow,

As long as it rains,

And this house keeps out the rain.