Evelyn Ray

Grade: 11

Bay Village High School

Instructor: Erin Beirne

What I Wish I Could Ask You

Poetry

What I Wish I Could Ask You

before i dissolve
rain
we saw the rain
through the high windows
looking out from the third floor
rain
we saw the rain
and went sprinting down
three flights of stairs
throwing phones and keys
in disarray
and bursting through the door
rain
there's the rain
hazy droplets
in a yellowing street light
the only illumination
in the murky dark

your auburn hair
flew out behind you
a cape of hope
streaming into the dark
as you motioned me forward
giggling
"come on come on come on"
words bleed together and
dissolve away
we pound up the brick steps
the only sounds
our feet and our breath
and the
rain
we hear the rain
as we rush
further further
into the dark

then you stop
laughter tumbling from your mouth
an unstoppable torrent
and we lay down
on the wet concert
facing a starless sky
the others catch up
bright eyes meet ours
do you have rain in california?
someone gets out
through gasping laughter
not like this
you vehemently respond
shaking your head
hair sliding along the wet concrete
not like this

rain
we felt the rain
not the cold harsh rain
but the warm kind
the kind that whispers sweet promises
the kind that clasps your face in warm hands
the kind that wipes away
ghosts of tears

rain
i felt the rain
and for the first time
in almost a year
i yearned to exist
not just dissolve
into
the rain