Rain patters out large
round the catface shapes
of the poplar leaves

a snake plant  waits
slitherless green
on the livingroom mantlepiece
next to the petrified hunk of tree
Uncle Vince once gave John

Who gives a care 
now that the squirrels
and even the owls
are hidden?

All this live-long night
there’s rain rhythms
for me to sleep by