Building a Fence

It’s been raining the last three days
& they say,
it aint about to let up
until another three more
a week of rain
without clear blue skies
or open windows
dim & then darker, then darkness
over & over every day

As a kid, I used to love the rainy season
but I was gloomier then, air conditioned
& happy alone
didn’t have to leave my room for anything
sheltered in a suburb for the school district
an adolescent Hamlet
complete with handmaids
launderers
prepared meals
lashing out from the rock poster nutshell
of my boyhood room

Now, I’m always out the door
taking trash in & out
getting the mail
walking the dog
going to the gym
the bank
the grocer

I walked the dog last night
through rivers of sidewalks
water up to my ankles
and watched her try to leap the puddles

I brought her in, toweled her off, as usual
from nose to tail, her torso & belly
and under her paws and up to the knee

This morning I could see
her first few steps into each doorway
perfect prints in a well contained space
I even saw a heel mark
and the splattered outline left
when a wet leash hits the floor

Of course it’s a waste to try and clean it
there’s green on the skyline
& a chill in the air
it’ll be pouring come dinnertime
& I’ll be dragging in
a fresh wash of it soon enough
on top of whatever untold breach
may befall us
last night
it was a leaking roof
around the chimney
on top of the hot water heater

I should feel happy to know
that at least the chimney works
but tonight it could be a window
or the seal of a door

It’s like that with real storms
everything gets tested
in a justifiable paranoia
something usually gives

We had to call the realtors
and they sent their maintenance guy
who’s nice enough
but don’t wanna get his hands dirty
with liability
he said that he’d recommend
to our property manager
that she suggest to the owners
they consider hiring a roofer

We asked him about the fence
that he came out to look at
a couple months back
but he didn’t know nothing
after he said it needed to be done
he was already out of the loop

I thanked him for coming by
and he said it was nice
coming out this way,
because it was close to home for him
he was able to stop
and have lunch out with his wife
before getting here after 2

When he left
I grabbed a smoke on the back patio
and it was so dark
and the noise of the rustling brush
swaying limbs, scurrying animals,
and gushing winds
were louder
than the semis on the street

I watched the long wood door of the shed
breathe from off its frame
and saw the peaks of the waterbreak
staining the wood almost half way up
like mountains or a crashing wave

I figure it aint that hard to post a fence
but it’s never been my call
I just live here