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"What if you never cast a shadow or rainbow of your own,
but have only caught those cast by others?"
—Wallace Stegner, The Spectator Bird, 1976
Others say,
"You fool, don't you remember
How it rained like crazy that year?"
For everyone else it was a matter
Of remembering umbrellas and galoshes
and wiping the dog's muddy paws.
I have a vague recollection of
wet streets
once upon a time long ago,
and needing to have believed it rained.
I recall it as
a very hot and dry year, with
conditions ripe for high winds and wildfires.
I am certain I spent hours out-of-doors
baking in the hot white light.
The windy shapes, the flickering shadows
that fell on those days
fed my imagination
with sky-held dreams.
If she knows about
the wind, the shifting clouds,
and a steadfast belief in the rain,
then she knows everything about me.