I like playgrounds in the rain –
everyone indoors, at home or work
or school. Just me and Dad,
him in his yellow raincoat
and me in my big green wellies.
No queues to use the swings
or slide – I have the whole thing
to myself. Dad sits with his coffee
and his hood up as I play.
I like the quiet. I like the way
each raindrop sanctifies this place.
Dad smiles beneath his yellow hood;
although the sky is gristle grey
it wraps me in its arms somehow.
I sit on the see-saw; no one but me –
I wallow in my gravity
and as the clouds converge above
I take a breath
and know I’m free.
Joshua Seigal
