Earlier Rain

Raindrops fell
On engineered surfaces
With gravity and chemistry
They joined together and flowed
Only where they were allowed
Leaving crooked black lines
Across dry shadows
Of departed cars
Searching for a curb
I can’t tell by looking
At the grass or the river or the trees
If it ever rained at all
So it seems
Rain can write its name
Across man made things
Apart from that
It only really exists
When you catch it
In its simple act of falling
From the belly of a black cloud
Or clearly drumming its name out
On whatever it finds