The rain was gone as quickly as it came,
but not for long. You could hear it first
on the far hills, as it made its way
down to the valley, and swept up
through grass and trees.
There was sun across the field
and a rainbow behind the dark firs,
and there were sparkles in the needles.

Again and again it came around.
Sometimes we were racing against it,
sometimes we were waiting it out.
Sometimes we were content with our condition,
sometimes less so.

We tracked a lot of mud onto the porch.
We made mistakes, corrected them,
discovered problems, fixed them,
in contrast and in counterpoint
to all the day’s moods

Brightened, towards the end,
by gifts of color, friendship, sustenance,
we came in from our labor satisfied.

©Wendy Mulhern
October 1, 2016