There are no things rain is like. Trees are like brick walls. But there are no things the walls themselves are like. I'm like you. The contents of a book are like margarine. The hard green surface of my car is like a forest fire. There are adventures in things I cannot pinpoint -- like snow, a storm, or sleet. The handyman who sweeps the leaves in the yard is not like himself. German fiction is not like African fiction. The umbrellas are like birds. They fly in the rain. The radio says we can expect snow. The radio is not like itself. There are no things the rain is like. I am not like myself. I am not myself. I change but change is not itself. There are no things change is like. Used with the permission of Copper Canyon Press, P.O. Box 271, Port Townsend, WA 98368-0271, www.cc.press.org | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...SMALL COUNTRIES by JAMES GALVIN CHERRY BLOSSOMS BLOWING IN WEST BLOWING SNOW by JAMES GALVIN SPEAKING TERMS by JAMES GALVIN SPECIAL EFFECTS by JAMES GALVIN DOWN BY THE CARIB SEA: 4. THE LOTTERY GIRL by JAMES WELDON JOHNSON |