and just as the last tear drop
was wrung out from the duct,
a drenched washcloth hung to dry,
she asked, “do you see a rainbow?”

beyond cumulonimbus and shattered fog
is a cotton candy lightning bolt
the visible spectrum reduced to an arch

but as the sun sets and the gold fades
to black, my water-logged dreams surge
waves of torment. i try to ride them in,
to tame the wild sea, but the undertow
swallows and spits me up
just another ocean tear, spilled upon the shore