I am the dirt who waits for the rain

The Years That The Days and Months Turned Into
by Shafer Hall

I was the kid who jumped

in the puddle in the rain,

and I was the rain

and I was the street

and I was the sky

reflected in the rain on the street

I was a trolley car engineer

and I was the trolley car

I was a scientist bent over a microscope

until the muscles in my back were knotted

and I was the tiny stuff in the dish

at which she stared

I was a song

and I was the old man

who sang to pass the time

and I was time that passed

and I was the comfort that came

and the sadness that was

I was a trash barrel fire

and the men who stood around it

I was a firefighter

and I was the coffee

the firefighter drank

to stay awake 

through the disaster

that I was

I was the corn

and I was the folk singer

who protested me

cause I was changed

I was the angry one, and I was the sad one,

and I am the head shaking in wonder

I am a pile of bones

and I am the satiated parasites

in the dirt below the pile of bones

and I am the dirt who waits

for the rain

"The Years That the Days and Months Turned Into" by Shafer Hall. Used by permission of the poet.

and I was the sky
reflected in the rain on the street

I was a trolley car engineer
and I was the trolley car

I was a scientist bent over a microscope
until the muscles in my back were knotted
and I was the tiny stuff in the dish
at which she stared

I was a song
and I was the old man
who sang to pass the time
and I was time that passed
and I was the comfort that came
and the sadness that was

I was a trash barrel fire
and the men who stood around it

I was a firefighter
and I was the coffee
the firefighter drank
to stay awake 
through the disaster
that I was

I was the corn
and I was the folk singer
who protested me
cause I was changed

I was the angry one, and I was the sad one,
and I am the head shaking in wonder

I am a pile of bones
and I am the satiated parasites
in the dirt below the pile of bones
and I am the dirt who waits
for the rain

"The Years That the Days and Months Turned Into" by Shafer Hall. Used by permission of the poet.