3 drops fell

I

I do not know which to praise,

The rain upon the roof

Or the roof becoming rain,

The window listening

Or what it hears after.

II

Three drops fell

On the iron railing.

They were not three drops

But the beginning

Of a province.

III

The rain moved over the town

Like a thought

Without a thinker.

A woman closed her umbrella

And entered the weather.

IV

A child watched the gutters

Carry leaves away.

He believed the leaves

Were little boats,

And perhaps they were.

V

O pale men of the avenue,

Why do you wait for thunder?

Do you not see how the rain

Has already entered

The shoes of everyone?

VI

The long glass shivered

With liquid alphabets.

The shadow of the rain

Crossed it, to and fro.

The room

Found in that crossing

An indecipherable mercy.

VII

I know the noble silence

Of dry stone,

And the lucid patience

Of dust.

But I know, too,

That the rain is involved

In what I know.