The Rain of Heaven

Under the stubborn, wet November leaves
I followed the golden streetlights tonight
much further than I intended
the shadow of my umbrella
passed over pools of shimmering asphalt
like a ghost made of the space
between stars
I walked slowly as a tired child
asking questions only childish lips
dare form
you breathed into me the refreshing fragrance
of deep cool air
it swept all the stale recriminations before it—
out came the stifling fears and lurking doubts
in one great sigh—
it filled those questions’ desolate sails with faith
and bore them up into the night

no answers came wafting down
but a presence
as sure as the renegade leaf
that brushed its damp coolness
against my cheek
and was gone to join its brothers
in the asphalt pools
the strength of that presence grew in me
until I walked carefree and deliberate,
contented as a child
who has forgotten he has things to do

now the tears came
my soul bore too close a resemblance
to the half-bare trees
their bark darkening in the rain
but soon tears gave place to peace
and you told me of a time
when we would walk in the rain of heaven
under a cloudless sky full of stars
on streets of pure gold—
the reflections of stars from above
and strange worlds from beneath
those worlds didn’t really seem
so far away
nothing separated me from them
but a moment
one moment with you