First of October — Day’s Report

The rain was gone as quickly as it came,

but not for long. You could hear it first

on the far hills, as it made its way

down to the valley, and swept up

through grass and trees.

There was sun across the field

and a rainbow behind the dark firs,

and there were sparkles in the needles.

Again and again it came around.

Sometimes we were racing against it,

sometimes we were waiting it out.

Sometimes we were content with our condition,

sometimes less so.

We tracked a lot of mud onto the porch.

We made mistakes, corrected them,

discovered problems, fixed them,

in contrast and in counterpoint

to all the day’s moods

Brightened, towards the end,

by gifts of color, friendship, sustenance,

we came in from our labor satisfied.

©Wendy Mulhern

October 1, 2016