Permanent Spring Showers

An Epilogue in Rain

-

1

In time, the rain will wash everything clean-
Fresh, new-
Beginning again-
Not like a story with an end, but a continuous breathing-
Nothing is tied so completely in bows,
There is always, always a loose knot-

Slipping…

2

The fire will continue through most of the night-
Long after the guests were allowed to leave-
(taking their cars slowly out of the drive, backing up so carefully, focusing on the roads, focusing on the new plans, disappearing each at a time, leaving the stage, exiting into the black night, disappearing.)
Ashes, ashes… and then the rain will clean it away-
Like a memory of a dream, swept pure by the dawn,
Or a wish for a trickster named Puck-

Mending…

3

With torches in hand, the tired firemen,
Walk and crunch, crunch through the wreckage-
Pointing at what they can find-
Exploring for lessons-
Looking at the remains, like fascinated tourists-
(the bits of a picture, the bits of a face, the bits of a furniture, the bits of a book, the bits of an oar, the bits of a painting, smeared from the heat first and then the cleaning rain.)
The loss for one, remaining
As only an education and sport for another-

Loss…

4

Stacey would stay long
Long after the firemen had roped off the land,
Long after midnight claimed the last day-
She sat on the dock, feet dangling, dangling-
(polite to each who spoke to her, but giving nothing and nothing, not thinking of the end avoided, for to her the end is inevitable, always present, living with her, in dreams of awakening.)
When the rain had stopped and the stars had emerged,
She too was gone-

Away…

5

And then silence-
Silence-
Silence-
The empty and abandoned stage,
The lights turning off one by one by one-
Like flickering stars-
There was silence before our arrival,
On the canvas of the earth,
And it will be there after we are exhumed-
The quiet of time and patience, and our scream on it a gasp-

It would be a dry summer…

-

If you liked reading the book (the earlier chapters can be found on the Permanent Spring Showers page), why not check out some of my published books? I’ve had three novels published in the last few years, A Jane Austen Daydream, My Problem With Doors and Megan. You can find them via my amazon.com author page here, or as an eBook on Google eBooks here. 

-Thanks for reading and supporting my book!-