here are three portraits of
a barn in the rain on
a Midwestern afternoon when
you are tired the first
you see the barn in the
distance and the rain has
started the second an old farmer
has taken you inside to see
an old tractor he is painting
and as you think of leaving
the rain starts
then there’s the barn
in the rain when you have spent
the day alone it is late
and you find you don’t want
to go back to St. Louis Park
you are afraid of your
children and what your
thwarted life might mean
for them and as you disjoint
your fly rod the raindrops come
down on the barn
gently at first so you stop
and listen to the rain as it
quickens and fills
the barn with subtle rattling
then something like a yoke drops
from you and when it is over
you can leave
and go back home again
as good as you ever were
