Earthworms Floating Everywhere

It was so wet, that summer—
Wet enough, the days seemed dark
Even stretched to greatest length,

Pearly light glowing before
Four in the morning, never
Growing any brighter, dim

Until night, past ten p.m.
Every window, every lens
Remained misted, all the time,

And raindrops grew like cold tears
From everyone’s eyelashes.
The toddler in bright yellow

Boots and hooded rain slicker
Waded through the tall wet grass,
Away from the camera.

What was happening in there,
In her long-term memory,
Which would blur all the details,

The greys, the greens, the yellows,
The snail-smell of that summer
In a world built out of rain,

Rain-compacted, a heaven
Of water in muddy earth,
When frogs spawned on park benches

And salamanders strolled roofs
Thick with moss? Amphibious
Shadows thronging childhood dreams

Might linger for a lifetime
Thanks to just one such summer.
It’s not so mysterious

How the mysterious sets
Evanescent hooks in us
Once memory puddles up.