Rain and Sleep

Rain is like nothing but rain unless it’s sleep. Sleep is also a glove. We wear rain if we are out in it for a good, long time. Also swallowing is possible. Sleep is inside and
outside of us. Sometimes it’s lucky. Sometimes it has many small blades. You never
know when you close your eyes. If you do that in the rain, close your eyes, it can feel
like the beginning of the world.

Mercedes Lawry has been published in Poetry, Natural Bridge, Nimrod, and Prairie Schooner, among others. She has published two chapbooks - “There are Crows in My Blood” and “Happy Darkness” and received honors from the Seattle Arts Commission, Jack Straw Foundation, Artist Trust and Richard Hugo House, has been a Pushcart Prize nominee and held a residency at Hedgebrook. She has also published short fiction as well as stories and poems for children.