Your Daily Miracle, Despite the Weather

If I had stayed,
the cedar would still have dripped with rain,
the gutters would have frothed;
the goldfinch would have still flown into the apple tree.
Everything would have gone on blooming without us.

If I hadn't unhooked the dogleash,
a squirrel would have still run along a fence,
pipe-cleaner tail bristling.  The sun would have still cleared
grey clouds while steam rose off the streets.

And if I hadn't pulled on my hat and boots,
home would have been place I stayed
instead of a place where I returned,
calling hello to teapot and books.

If I hadn't buttoned up wool coat,
the window would have framed
a silent garden, and the smell of lilacs and rain
would have remained friends living far away
to whom I'd write a letter,
saying, "Today is gloomy and cold,
much too awful for May,
so I have been very sensible
and stayed indoors."