Personal Choice 94

The Rainwalkers

An old man whose black face

shines golden-brown as wet pebbles

under the streetlamp, is walking two mongrel dogs

of dis-proportionate size, in the rain,

in the relaxed early-evening avenue.

The small sleek one wants to stop,

docile to the imploring soul of the trash basket,

but the young tall curly one

wants to walk on; the glistening sidewalk

entices him to arcane happenings.

Increasing rain. The old bareheaded man

smiles and grumbles to himself.

The lights change: the avenue's

endless nave echoes notes of

liturgical red. He drifts

between his dogs' desires.

The three of them are enveloped -

turning now to go crosstown - in their

sense of each other, of pleasure,

of weather, of corners,

of leisurely tensions between them

and private silence.

Denise Levertov

Denise Levertov (1923 - 1997) born in Ilford, Essex, England. English-born American poet, essayist, and political activist who wrote deceptively matter-of-fact verse on both personal and political themes.

This is a wonderful poem about nothing but (everything) a man taking his dogs for a walk in the rain. It is a celebration of ordinary human activity, of the divinity that can be found in a moment and just how redemptive poetry can be about what is really essential and eternal:

- in their

sense of each other, of pleasure,

of weather, of corners,

of leisurely tensions between them

and private silence.