Pray for Rain

Happy Lent! This seemed appropriate. I think my inner Seattleite is beginning to kick in.

Pray for Rain
Pray for danger
Pray for danger that you may see right through it
See that danger is a coward
And fear a liar
That you may be thrown into the waves
And take up swimming, accidentally
And that next time you find yourself a cliff
You'll jump

Pray for rejection
Pray to learn ASAP
That you are stronger than judgment
And worth more than condescension
That a "no" is not in vain
So you will continue
And laugh to look back on what you have missed

Pray for dissention
Pray for someone who will argue all you say
That you will be called ignorant and wrong
And see what else there is to be believed
That you will be forced to be
More tolerant, more intelligent, more creative
Than you have ever been

And when you hit rock bottom,
Pray for rain
Pray for any kind of rain
And go out in a t-shirt and your bare feet and lie down
In the grass
And let the million drops of mud
Splatter all across your legs
And the feel serenity pelt down upon your cheeks
Not even imagining
What you could have done
With the time you spent so well
In the rain

Hue

Marmot fur
Icicle
Ivory and cream, which aren't quite the same
Like flour and sugar
And snow
Swiss cheese
Ashes
Pearl
Asbestos
Polar bear
Chalk
Weddings
Serenity
Emptiness

Persian rose
That salmon-coral color
Hot magenta, not to be confused with fuchsia
Watermelon strawberry raspberry
Blueberry juice
Flamingo, fandango
Sunburn
First kiss

Bright cranberry
Firetruck
Marinara
Stop!
Autumn apple
Cinnamon
Virginia clay
Anger
Communism
Surgery

Tangerine
Papaya smoothie
Hot wheels
Campfire
Wildflower
Halloween
Safety
Prison
Energy
Irritation
Bungee jumping

Daffodil
School bus
Corn on the cob
Fields of gold
Mid July
Saffron and sand
Southern Spain
Caution
Adrenaline

Mint mojito
Kiwi
Amazon
Peridot
Seaweed
Sprite
Go
Camoflauge
Lawnmower
Washington
Environmentalism
Poison
Energy
Envy

Cerulean
Turquoise
Aquamarine
Qīng
Spearmint
Caribbean

Mediterranean
Denim
Thunderstorm
Veins
Bubble gum soda
Baby's breath
Heartbreak

Deep maroon
Lavender
Amethyst
Snail blood
Artificial grape
Wealth
Adolescence
Coals
Onyx
Panther fur
Asphault
Rebellion
Apathy

Necklace

Yeah, that necklace

With the deep, deep blue ceramic bead

"To represent the canal, or the sky, or the morning mist over the mountains

Or maybe your favorite camp toothbrush"

Well, my toothbrush is green.

The necklace from the camp on the canal

With the oyster beach and the barnacle rocks

Where the fairies dance and the otters sing

And the old man's beard grows so, so long

That all the birds make nests of it

That necklace

For the timid five year old who was too brave not to climb a mountain

For the eight year old who came twice in the same summer

For the eleven year old who thought maybe she was getting too busy

Too busy for courage

For adventure

For laughter

"But I'll come back," she promised

"Someday."

For the eighteen year old who did come back

And when they asked her "Do you remember?"

Was too shy to admit it

But who could forget?

That necklace

Some people keep theirs in boxes in the corners of their rooms so they won't ever lose them

B. wears hers whenever she's especially nostalgic

S. keeps hers on a hook by the door

So that when the house catches fire, the necklace will stay with her

I don't take mine off.

But ohhh dear, that necklace

Drops of another world

Of plastic, or ceramic, or marmot fur

Or maybe just magic

Marmot fur is for garlic pita and copper mines and snow

The light blue is for finding constellations in the sea

A pink for jellyfish

More blue for warm August days

Lavender for sheep jokes and dinosaur trees

Green for building a fire

Yellow one for bug bites

Sapphire for singing to seals

White for making dream catchers and tye dye

Magenta for singing about moose and alligators and Tuesdays

Another magenta, for fairy houses and friendly trolls

More magenta, for salal and trilliums

And white, white for scraping pots and clearing trails

For dehydrated marinara and egg salad pitas

For pocket rockets and bilge pumps

For wild woozies and spider webs

For mountain goats and polar bears

For counting the bees and chasing the clouds

For giants and sparrows and butterfly breaths

For starfish and cedars and banana slugs

For heroes and villains and pirate hunts

For alpine meadows and barnacle bays

For windsurfing

For discipline

For fairy dust

So I don't keep a camera, just a notebook and some thoughts

And soon enough the thoughts will run away

But even though the notes are smeared and wearing through in spots

I know for certain that necklace will stay