The Poets Bleed

Morning clouds come rolling in,
The rain falls and kisses the daisies,
The children walk in innocence to school
Splashing puddles in raincoats and boots.
A wife scrambles eggs and a husband with
Umbrella in hand leaves the table in a rush
With toast and a kiss---
    and the poets bleed.

An old man fills his scripts from the drugstore
And walks out holding his hat against the wind.
The rain flows along the streetside and into
The sewer in front of the post office.
A farmer rushes into the bank to pay his note,
A stray tomcat presses close to an alley wall---
  and the poets bleed.

A student driver creeps slowly along mainstreet
Uncertain in the blinding downpour,
A young couple seeks refuge under the park's picnic canopy,
The street workers barricade the flooded part of Ferry Street,
The addict puts his pistol back in his sock drawer
Because it's too nasty of a day to pull a job---
  and the poets bleed.

They see it all with pen in hand---
  the poets bleed.