Anniversary Rain

The book of luminous water

being read aloud to the treetops

tells a story about the life

that befalls us

in this green guesthouse of God

that almost is, and almost isn’t

blessing, uncertainty, and promise

all at once.

And isn’t it something about 

how much love still matters

beneath all this?

The rest will have to wait

because afterstorm sunlight 

is bearing witness to the grain 

of replenished air cut open 

by fluorescent blades of 

summer lightning.

And isn’t it something about

how much love still matters,

like everything beyond our

explanation and control?

When we breathe it,

free and filling as smiles

that follow a first kiss,

we understand the

hospitality of this planet

has been trying to teach us

something about how

love enduringly matters,

given and received 

like the contents of rising

clouds that year after year 

nourish and settle everything.