Twentieth Century Storm

Lightning the scythe / is cutting down the rain. / Swathes of water // fall like the clothes / o the great coats for parting / the great great coats / that never returned! / fall like the clothes / of the far away / on the sky’s empty field. // And in the grass of this rain / flowers / which grew with the strength of rivers / o the pockets of the ferryman / packed with the letters / silences and promised numbers / of those who left! / which grew with the strength of rivers / into estuaries. // Each flower began / in the palm of a hand, / each petal / in origin / a gesture an action / a touching. // Put your garden to my cheek / your five fingered garden / in another city / to my cheek // The haycart / loaded with thunder / is trundling across the sky.