Watching rain from below

You told me how you sank beneath the skin,

Where the world’s loud colours blur and thin,

And how you looked up, holding your own breath,

To watch the quiet silver side of de.ath

You said the sky was not a thing of blue,

But a quivering film of mercury you

Could almost touch, a ceiling, tense and clear

Then you described the reason we are here

You said the rain, that drums on us, my dear,

Is not a storm to anyone down there

No whirlpools spin, no frantic circles race,

But something softer comes to take their place

A sudden crater, a collapsing crown,

A ring of light that pulls its shimmer down,

Then from its heart, a fizz of stars released,

A bubble chain for some dr0wned wedding feast

A needle of a spike, a liquid spear,

Drops down then vanishes as you draw near

And all the while, a muted, plinking chime,

The rain’s own heartbeat, keeping perfect rhyme

You said it was a kingdom turned upside down,

Where the storm is a pillow and the sky might dr0wn

And listening to you, with your eyes so wide,

I saw my own world from the other side

And I knew then, the truth I now confess

You have made a wonder of my emptiness

You dive where I only see weather's frown,

And return with a universe too brief to belong.