I Never Mind the Rain


So many poems are about poems.
So many poems are read only

by other poets or—a few—by persons grieving,
hunting for a match for the eulogy,

because poetry taps into our mournful centers
and we seek certain sounds more than meanings, or a sense

of knowing. We are satisfied with suggestions.
After nineteen days of sunshiny cold, our city

returned to its better-known self which is wet-streaked windows,
rain-soaked smells of soil, swishings of cars through shallows

where streets once stretched, and to its preparations for mysteries
by knitting shocking pink hats and scrawling slogans on severed box lids.

No one knows whether a frozen patch
of hard clear days or a week of warm deluges

lies ahead, not until we get there
and witness the corpse.

Categories Poetry

Pamela Hobart Carter loves Seattle as much for its water and mountains as for its bustle and creativity. She explores the Emerald City daily while walking her dog. Carter used to be a teacher who wrote on the side. Now she is a writer who teaches on the side.

Creative Commons License
Except where otherwise noted, the content on this site is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.