DeKalb, Illinois

Joshua Lee Turner

Compositor: Joshua Lee Turner

The rain so persistent
In DeKalb, Illinois
Can barely find a coffee here much less a cause for joy
Of beauty and sorrow
The water bleeds the seam
As for the first time in twenty days to kiss a lucid dream

The rain darkened trunks make the red leaves glow brighter
A ponderous load makes the body seem lighter
And here you are
On a dark and heavy day
Both of us wishing you could stay

A gift of twelve hours
A spiritual souvenir
It’s harder though to receive a gift we know will disappear
Encroachment of nausea
As farewells impend
Till fitfully we fret to sleep, perchance to dream again

The rain darkened trunks make the red leaves glow brighter
A ponderous load makes the body seem lighter
And there you were
On a dark and heavy day
Both of us wishing you could stay