for my father
And when at last
the healing comes,
may it come like rain,
like rain after a long drought,
so soft that at first
you won’t be sure
it is raining,
but the fragrance
will overcome you,
green and wet,
and the world
will look dewy and
you’ll feel it in your lungs.
Yes, may the healing
arrive in a way that
astounds you,
as today when the rain turned
long and steady,
the kind that touches
and changes everything,
changes things so completely
you almost can’t remember
what it was like before,
yes, may healing come like this
so that everywhere you look,
all you see is promise.