In memory of my father
who loved to sit on a covered deck
and watch rain, I sit sheltered
and sip coffee on my covered deck
high on Cherry Mountain.
Near treetops I sing louder than
the downpour that falls inches from me.
"You like my new house?" I trill
above the spill of raindrops.
Mr. Whiskers asleep on my feet
under the wicker seat, wakes.
He thinks my song is for him.
I look deep into gray mist, eye to eye
with thin green leaves of a thousand trees
and sing welcome to white blossoms
on dogwood trees no one planted.
I am singing. I am singing to my father
who loved to sit close to rain.


This poem first appeared in Lights in the Mountains: Stories, Essays and Poems by Writers
Living In and Inspired by the Southern Appalachian Mountains (Winding Path Publishing, 2003).
Used here with the author’s permission.