When I lay in bed,
In the soft halo of light from
my bedside lamp,
The rain is like my nightlight.
It keeps me from seeing too much
of the dark.
When my thoughts start crying and whimpering
In fear of what the dark might make me see,
I listen to the sound of the rain.
The sound is my mother
whispering to her precious baby.
It is soft grey kittens
lapping up cream.
It is a child’s hand
sifting through a glass jar
of jelly beans.
It is my father
Drumming his fingers
On the kitchen table.
It is the sound
Of 6,866,987,987 hearts beating,
Lulling me to sleep.