bouncing rain

as though each cloud had a separate mind

individual ideas of what the climate should bestow

the drops are flat and then elongated

become this minute hard and bounce

off pavement, windshield

the wipers only add to the confusion

of an april afternoon of this oddest spring

showoff storm

showoff storm

watercolor sky

and seascape

changing in the hail

wind gusts causing gulls

to land like drunken sailors

and ruffling tail and wing

feathers as they huddle

on the beach

sudden torrents of rain

beating, roiling sand

beneath the surface

to muddy gold-brown

churning the water

into foam white and gray-green

purple-blue in the shadows

of black-purple-gray clouds