The Rain Song

it rains in the winter, rains in the fall
it rains in the spring and the summer and all
it rains when it rains and it waters the ground
through the rivers and the roads of the waterfront towns
it waters the grasses, waters the trees
splashes galoshes that hug at your knees
it runs in the gutters and it comes down to fall
on the plaster disaster of the pool hall wall

it cleans out the air and it filters the smog
runs through the oil soot hung in the fog
it washes the concrete, polishes stone
asphalt comes clean with a mind of its own
it feeds all the green that survives in the summer
while the heat hits the street like the beat of a drummer
while the desert dehydrates, dries in the plains
we’re saved by the waters that come in the rain

some come from the lands of the suntan weather
where the dry heat breezes rustle like a feather
and they come up here, snicker and jest
say it rains too much in the great Northwest
some are distressed by the stress and the strain
and they lay all the blame on the name of the rain
but it’s all only water for better or best
if it was anything other they’d still be depressed

meaning no harm to the farm and the field
releasing the crop of its watery yield
very much scandaled and sorely maligned
its come and its gone in a matter of time
been here for centuries, be here for more
like the great grandparent of the evergreen shore
don’t hold no grudge, got nothin’ to prove
so if you don’t like it you better move