after a hard rain, 
flowers cast away petals 
and bow to the wind  

the rich darkness of the earth 
smells ripe, bitter and alive

Copyright 2025 Brenda Davis Harsham

Notes: Many poets have written about spring rain. Here are a couple excerpts:

“In time of silver rain
The earth puts forth new life again,
Green grasses grow
And flowers lift their heads,
And over all the plain
The wonder spreads…”
— Langston Hughes

“Last night
the rain
spoke to me
slowly, saying,

what joy
to come falling
out of the brisk cloud,
to be happy again

in a new way
on the earth!
That’s what it said
as it dropped,

smelling of iron,
and vanished
like a dream of the ocean
into the branches

and the grass below.”
— Mary Oliver