the rain

just pours

pours for days

swollen rivers

force their banks

geese confused

too fast

it flows 

for them

the paper seller

closes early

green shutters

clatter their

warning

children 

denied school

celebrate

and tease

along the narrow

stone bridge

head down

silent adults

umbrellaless

dash away

until arcades

offer coffee

and endless chat

the deluge is accepted

stoically

unseasonal of course

but what is seasonal

now?

out in the fields

the vines

cold

stunted

the farmer curses

another bad year

he coughs

spits and

smiles to me

asking what?