Why Things Happen
I listened to the rain fall for hours
And read a mystery next to my cat,
Both of us dismayed by the dark, wet sky.
I listened and read and accrued the clues
Of how and who as to why things happen.
I heard rainwater scampering across
The roof shingles and into the gutter,
Draining the sky to gravity’s rhythm,
Down the spout and away, under the ground.
I turned a page, the cat stretched, and elsewhere,
Far away, sirens curdled the night air
And soured someone’s life, now, gone awry.
An audio version of me reading the poem may be listened to here.