Rain & Shine & More Rain

She’ll shake head to toe, just to let me know, you can’t count on rain!

You can’t count
on rain,
no matter what
the weatherman claims.

Not like you can count
on the timely delivery
of the morning paper,
mine lands in my driveway
a bit before five,
thrown blindly by
some mad driver trained
by Mr. Toad
for Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride.

Not like you can count
on the timely tipoff
of yesterday's Buckeye v Wolverine game,
1 p.m. sharp, 
Pacific Time,
rain or shine.

Not like you can count
on the evening news, well,
count on Google 
always being ready
for you. 

You can watch 
the swirling clouds,
wait for a break
and when they part,
when blue sky shows 
and the sun seeps through,
grab your dog
and pray the weather 
stays that way.

But it won’t,
because you can’t count
on rain.

It’ll unleash
its fury
where there are no trees
to huddle under,
when you’re too far from home
to make a run for it.

So, you flip up your collar,
pull down the bill of your cap,
and slog back
through the saturated 
neighborhood.

About every 30 yards,
if your dog’s like mine,
she’ll stop and shake
head to toe,
just to let me know,
you can’t count 
on rain!