Rain

I remember you when it rains

Sitting on your porch we talked for hours

And when it rained you smiled

We grew quiet letting our senses take over

Breathing deeply you said, “I love the rain”

And all the world grew right, if only for the moment

Knowing time was short you still didn’t rush

Nor did you panic or fret, not that I saw

You lived each day as it came

Embracing all the joy you found

A birdsong, the blue of a perfect sky, and cookies

Sometimes when I’m cross I think of you

With so much to resent you chose not to

You would have said it was a waste of time

And you knew more than most, how short time could be

Almost twelve years later, I miss you still

My teacher, my friend, my Dad

Nel Babitzke is a Peorian native ane lives now with her husband in East Peoria. She has been writing poetry since childhood and she attributes her love of words to her "proper English speaking grandmother" and her father, Chuck Satchfield, who included a poem in every card he sent her. He passed away March 4, 1992.

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