A Pretty Rain

by Robert Scotellaro

One day it rains a pretty rain, and everyone it touches knows beauty. Cars and houses quickly empty. Already attractive people stand in it, naked, against that one gray hair or bit of flab. Plain Janes splash in its puddles with a warrior’s cry; erasing the sadness from their cheeks.

But the next day an ugly rain falls, with disquieting effects. Umbrellas blossom much too late. Forecasters are stumped. People wait indoors with wart-tipped noses against the glass. Which will it be?

It’s cold as the fat clouds darken. A wise snow comes, weighing on the eaves. Filling the hollows of hats, and slipping into the darkness of high boots; tracked and crunched. A deep snow. A quiet snow, gathering—nearly luminous. Drifting down and landing on wide-eyed faces. And all will have to rethink everything.

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Robert Scotellaro‘s short fiction and poetry appear or are forthcoming in mud luscious, DOGZPLOT, Ghoti, 971 Menu, The Laurel Review, Storyscape, Battered Suitcase, Red Rock Review, Boston Literary Magazine, Macmillan Collections, and others. He is the author of several literary chapbooks, two books of poetry, and the recipient of Zone 3’s Rainmaker Award in Poetry. Born and raised in Manhattan, he currently lives in California with his wife and daughter.

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Back to Issue Two: Winter 2009