On this overcast, sun-blotted
day, Coldplay’s “Clocks” brings me back to another morning,
wet and dark.  Once again I am waiting at the stoplight
in front of the Shell station at 7 AM.  Rain dribbles,
thunder stomps in mirrored puddles, and lightning cracks
black sky.  Shimmering pools of red and green
cover the road; in their warped
reflections streetlights wobble,

Most would call such a morning dreary, but somehow
everything seemed brighter in the rain.
Maybe it was the song on the radio or the lightning where sunrise
should have been or the sparkling puddles rippled
by tire treads but whatever the cause, it was
otherworldly.