fire in the rain

 
there is a rain that scalds you like liquid fire.
it is flung from the broken skies as if the gods  
themselves were in fear of it. only fools would
challenge its wrath. fools like me.
 
there is a desire, relentless, that consumes me. desire  
for a woman, a dark-haired woman, whose eyes haunt  
me even in my sleep. in every moment of my agony, I  
require her smell, the feel of her trembling flesh under  
 
my hands, the taste of her mouth & every inch of her form  
that I must chew like a rabid hound.
I pace my rooms, my cage, until that demented lust compels
me to attack the thunderous night, & I run to your little house,
 
the maginot line of your resistance. in the beating rain & the  
saturated earth I stand. my t-shirt & khakis are inundated, so I
rip them off & feed them to the wind. my canvas shoes are  
removed & tossed away. the wet ground grips my feet, intent  
 
on dragging me to hell.
I stand there naked, unarmored, in the driving rain, & I see you
behind your window, your face confused, yet aware of my madness.
‘come out!’ I shout in my anger, ‘come out!’
 
you hesitate briefly, then remove your robe. nude as a newborn  
savage, you are an earthbound goddess. Aphrodite of the mud.
you rush into the bruising rain, the cleansing rain, & we are  
wrapped in each other.
 
our lips & tongues eat wet kisses. we are welded, each upon each,
flesh upon flesh. & the burning rain be damned, as it immolates us.
two lovers, one pillar of fire…
fire in the rain.