Rain by Jon Shave

between bare branches
broad strokes of cerulean
before the grey expanse

beneath a sea of clouds
a shipyard of coal
umbrellas
slick with winter drizzle
oiling sealskin

I hid behind black
funeral cars
and watched the adults
more adept at the art
of mourning

at the lake where the boys drown
they set the monument
I couldn’t read the names
through all the wailing

it was deepening midwinter
water moved in circles
under the thinning ice