The rain this morning pours from the gutters and
everywhere else it is lost in the trees. You need your
glasses to single out what you know is there because
doubt is inexorable; you put on your glasses. The trees,
their bark, their leaves, even the dead ones, are more
vibrant wet. Yes, and it’s raining. Each moment is like
this — before it can be known, categorized as similar to
another thing and dismissed, it has to be experienced,
it has to be seen. What did he just say? Did she really
just say that? Did I hear what I think I heard? Did that
just come out of my mouth, his mouth, your mouth? The
moment stinks. Still you want to stop looking at the trees.
You want to walk out and stand among them. And as
light as the rain seems, it still rains down on you.
Claudia Rankine, "from Citizen" from Citizen: An American Lyric. Copyright © 2014 by Claudia Rankine. Used by permission of Graywolf Press, www.graywolfpress.com
Source: Citizen: An American Lyric (Graywolf Press, 2014), page 5