I Wish Vancouver Had More Thunderstorms

or A Sleepless Night's Consolation

The heavens are telling the glory of God

and the skies proclaim his handiwork

Psalm 19:1

it would be nice to have that kind of energy

if not gossiping about the LORD’s affairs

at least, I would hope, I could clean my room

but a new mouse moved into the wall

next to my bed, two feet from my pillow

I could tell he was new by his breathing

his chewing was less frantic than last one

it was 2:45 in morning

when I took a second helping

of the store-brand NyQuil

green licorice flavor

went down slow

the sky was thundering last night

rain funneled down broken gutters

hitting the sidewalk

in uneven bursts

between the sky crashes

and over the smack

of roof-run-off

against the concrete

I could hear

the steady rhythm of raindrops

effortlessly playing their song

on rhododendron leaves.