No moon, no stars,
she sneaks up canyon
in the dark an hour late
gently whispering
from the black
as if she never left.
A sprinkle kisses the roof
I cannot see, but hear
find its way to earth.
After midnight, my mother
would turn the porch light off,
so no one knew I wasn’t home
when we had neighbors, trails
between cabins in the mountains
I knew by braille
and by the sound
of my young feet, light
upon the night trails.
In the end, no one cares
exactly when it rained—
only that it came.









