Water Cycle (incomplete)

Is it going to rain today?

Outside
I look up at
the clouds
gray, white, vaporous

I look down at
the pavement
gray, white, puddled

I breathe the moist air
I feel the cool breeze
I see all the signs
of rain

Inside
I hear the kettle boiling
hot, white, vaporous
I feel a wetness on my flesh
hot, white, mottled
I taste the dry sweat
I gnaw the dead skin
I know all the signs
of aging

Outside
A neighbor passes
on the way to work
He pauses to ask about
the weather
Should he go back for an
umbrella?

I look up at the sky
and say "perhaps,
but I'm afraid ...
I mean ...
I can't say
for sure."

Is it going to rain today?
The vapor rises
The kettle sings
I exhale
I perspire

Is it going to rain?

The question intrigues me
I, who know so much,
who have traveled so far,
yet here
in front of my own home
I have no answer
I do not know

And sometimes
I mistake the ticking
of the clock
for drops of rain falling
from the roof

© 1995, TAJ

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