Yesterday, much to my delight, I noticed that rain was in the forecast. Much, much needed rain. As the skies greyed through the day, I found myself murmuring, Come on, rain!, over and over again, making me think of Karen Hesse’s fabulous picture book of the same name.
Finally, at around 3 pm, the rain started. Just a sprinkle or two at first. Come on, rain! Next a misting. Come on, rain!! Then, finally, the mist solidified into steady showers. Come on, rain!!!! Looking out my window at my garden, I could practically feel the plants shaking the dust off, their roots stirring and drinking, leaves plumping. I imagined them as jubilant as the young girls in Hesse’s book:
Thankfully, it continued to rain through the night. A soft, steady rush of water. Come on, rain!
In the middle of the night, or perhaps early in the morning, I woke with words running through my mind. I reached for pen, paper, and my book light, then scrawled them quickly so I wouldn’t forget them.
When I awoke this morning, I reached for the paper, remembering I’d written something on it, but not fully aware of what I’d recorded. Canticle? Do I even know that word? As you can see by the “?” on my paper, even my night-time mind wasn’t sure it made sense or that I was spelling it correctly. I looked it up to find that I had spelled it correctly and used it correctly, too, as it means a “hymn or chant.” The mind’s a funny thing, isn’t it?
Here’s what I ultimately did with those words:
The Rustle of Plants: A Translation
On this morning of rain
after endless days
of sun’s piercing gaze
we absorb its blessing
and offer up
a canticle of praise.
©Molly Hogan
Nix the comfort zone 
Lovely words! “Canticle”—yes, the perfect word for the rhythm and music of the rain….I love how our wonderful brains work even in sleep!
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I always marvel about how my brain is working even when I’m unaware of it– Like how after stepping away from a difficult crossword puzzle, I come back to it and know several of the answers. It is pretty wonderful!
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Oh the rain was glorious! I love what came from your night time jots!
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I was so worried it would bypass us! It was lovely while it lasted and now we’re back to high temperatures and little rain in sight.
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Yes, your night mind uncovered the right word to recount the swishing of the rain that washes our souls. I sat in front of my window yesterday afternoon to watch the rain’s antics and quickly ran outside to make sure one of my planters benefited from the intense downpour.
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Let’s hope there’s some more widespread rain sometime soon!
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Molly, I love your humor and honesty! LOL! Yes, our brains are fascinating, but your sleep brain is way more fascination than mine. I love “sun’s piercing gaze”, how it rhymes with “days” and praise. I also love how you chose “absorb” for the meaning and the /b/ consonance in that line. When read aloud I enjoy the sounds of /s/, /b/, and /p/. Beautiful poem! Would it be okay to use this poem as a mentor poem for me to study in my notebook? I would put your copyright on it. I think you should try to publish this poem. The more I read it; the more I love it! With all your poetry elements in your poem; it would make a great lesson fu your students, too! Thank you for sharing and for your inspiration. 🙂
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You are more than welcome to work with my poem, Gail. Thanks for asking 🙂 Now that it’s on my blog, it’s tricky to submit anywhere though. The downside of blogging!
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I do this same thing so often I am grateful for the ease of googling. Canticle is a just right word. In my church, the Episcopal church, we have a tradition of singing canticles during the worship service.
I love “Come on Rain!” and thank you for the reminder of that book. I forgot that the author is Karen Hesse. I had to google her. Didn’t she write “Out of the Dust” that I read with my students last year? Yes!
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“Come on, Rain!” is such a gorgeously written book! I don’t think I’ve read “Out of the Dust” though I am familiar with the title. Also, on a side note, I was raised Episcopalian, but have no memory of the word “canticles”— at least no conscious memory!
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I have been quoting Come On Rain! All summer hoping it will work. I am glad it did for you. The clouds come and then the heat of the city pushes them away leaving us high and dry. I am watching for rain today. Love your poem.
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I didn’t dare to start murmuring it until rain was in the forecast and the skies were clouding over! I hope you’ll soon experience the wonder of much-anticipated rainfall!
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I love Come On, Rain also and the way you wove it into your day. The scribblings at night were worthy of the poem- beautiful work and I loved reading your process.
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Thanks. I enjoyed how it all came together when I wrote it.
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I love this Molly! Thanks so much for sharing! I often get up in the middle of the night to write down words to partial poems so I won’t forget them. I love that you chanted Come on Rain, then it rained, and then your mind reached for the right word in your subconscious! Love!
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Thanks! I’m always fascinated by the way my subconscious works behind the scenes.
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Your narrative and poem take me back to Tempe, Arizona 1970, when I was student teaching at Mitchell Elementary School. It was my first year in Arizona, finishing up my elementary education degree at Arizona State. That winter/spring we had 150 days straight of no rain. Our fifth graders never missed recess, morning or at lunch. Once married to Hannah in Arizona, rain was so infrequent, we stopped everything when the rains came, usually for ten minutes or less. We’d go to the back arcadia sliding glass door and just watched in wonder. We left Arizona 40 years ago and wonder how the area survives and more houses are built when there is such drought. Maine’s rain over the last week brings me such liquid joy.
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I can’t imagine 150 days without rain–Yikes! I love picturing you and Hannah standing at the door together watching the rain.
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