Rain Elegy
by Maryfrances Wagner


All night the dog whined through strikes
and flashes while rain pelted the skylight
and sang through our gutters.

Morning hung over with lost limbs,
petals stuck to the patio, I steered
the dog across soggy yard, past runoff.

I remembered the summer the flood
sucked your car into the lake. One hand
dangled from the window when they

hauled you out. The dog stared at standing
water and strained on her leash to go back.
A beheaded tuberose spread far its thick scent.








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