They say God is in the rain.

They say God is in the rain.


Lying in the grass bedding
Near the city riverbank,
His body shook uncontrollably.
Like crashing waves upon still shores,
Pain seeped through the pores of his leathery skin,
Cutting through scarred liver,
Through dark lungs soaked in nightshade,
Through a beaten heart;
Straight to his soul.

As night deepened,
And the rain continued to fall,
His physical withdrawal finally drifted
Into troubled sleep.

One night blurred into fifteen years.
Staggering down empty streets
And narrow alleyways,
Looking for shelter,
Or a way to feed a thirsting addiction.
How many times could he endure
a night like tonight?

Long ago, he let go of the man
he had once been.
The touch of a daughter’s hand,
The warmth of home,
The hand of a lover,
Were faint memories between empty
Bottles of liquor.

Everything lost,
But a shadow lying by the riverside,
-Drenched in rain-
And a city far from home.