1. 9
    Aug

    “Summer Storm” by Dana Gioia

    We stood on the rented patio
    While the party went on inside.
    You knew the groom from college.
    I was a friend of the bride.

    We hugged the brownstone wall behind us
    To keep our dress clothes dry
    And watched the sudden summer storm
    Floodlit against the sky.

    The rain was like a waterfall
    Of brilliant beaded light,
    Cool and silent as the stars
    The storm hid from the night.

    To my surprise, you took my arm
    A gesture you didn’t explain
    And we spoke in whispers, as if we two
    Might imitate the rain.

    Then suddenly the storm receded
    As swiftly as it came.
    The doors behind us opened up.
    The hostess called your name.

    I watched you merge into the group,
    Aloof and yet polite.
    We didn’t speak another word
    Except to say goodnight.

    Why does that evening’s memory
    Return with this night’s storm
    A party twenty years ago,
    Its’ disappointments warm?

    There are so many might have beens,
    What ifs that won’t stay buried,
    Other cities, other jobs,
    Strangers we might have married.

    And memory insists on pining
    For places it never went,
    As if life would be happier
    Just by being different.

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