1.
Here is the novelty of cooler air,
at once fostered and ruined by rain.

2.
I am the inside of a garment
being tested for colorfastness;
my hands are folded like origami.

3.
I see things in other things,
and wonder about signs.

4.
Darkness advances
like shadows of water,
or clouds sleepwalking
across a firmament.

5.
I consider scattering ashes
into the wet wind,
and how raindrops might gather
fractions of my grief.

6.
The dead bury themselves,
but I am a fool suffered by life.

7.
This is an aubade
for the starlings
and the color green.

8.
What good is rain on dying leaves?
I review all the clichés about
tears, dormancy, and rebirth.

9.
The pavement shines,
channelling the sky;
I see my reflection.