Before

I remember the rain coming down in sheets

Before they paved the road to the farm.

The road was all red dust before the rain

Turned your front yard into a shallow sea

Under the tire swing hung from a rope

In the sandy soil surrounding your rickety house

With the rain drumming the tin roof,

And the mosquitoes days after, as thick as the rain,

But right after the rain, its sudden stopping,

Big drops falling like an engine winding down,

And everything like it was before there was a road

To drive our Chevy over

So it could die in the dirt drive

Like the rotting broken down old wagon,

Weed covered, in the field behind the barn.