MenWeb - Poem "Come In From The Rain!"

Come In From The Rain!

by Thomas R. Smith

This poem was first published in M.E.N. Magazine and appears in his anthology, Horse of Earth.

This appeared in:
Horse of Earth

Holy Cow! Press
$8.95

Come In From The Rain!

Many remain mute. This one kneels

on a folded blanket sodden with rain

and sways toward the wall, his face

floating in the long bay of his hands.

He is one of the sad beggars of Barcelona

who kneel on sidewalks barefoot, hold out

cigar boxes, display some deformity or wound.

Some grip signs saying merely, "I am hungry."

Coins dropped on his laboriously printed plea

glisten, kings' faces drowning. He seems

oblivious of the winter wind in the alley,

the great stains devouring his shoes.

Such men turn up without explanation

or history on the streets of every city

of the world, delivered in our path

as if ejected by some shabby womb

to be rained on or frozen drunk

under a viaduct, without dry clothes

or honor. For Gods sake, man,

its time to come in from the rain!

But I do not say it. Beneath my

umbrella, I'm unsure whether I'm addressing

this Gypsy--master of a cruel discipline--

or my father, my brother, men of my country.

Hear RealAudio WebCasts from a reading by Robert Bly and Thomas R. Smith, editor of the first United States anthology of Alden Nowlan's poems, When He Went to the Store for a Loaf of Bread.

Other Poems by Thomas R. Smith

This appeared in:
The Dark Indigo Current

Holy Cow! Press
$12.95

Affectionate Witness, by Thomas R. Smith. This poem, published in Mr. Smith's most recent book, The Dark Indigo Current, was first published in M.E.N. Magazine.

The Boy Who Crawled, by Thomas R. Smith. This poem, published in Mr. Smith's most recent book, The Dark Indigo Current, was first published in M.E.N. Magazine.

The Reply, by Thomas R. Smith. This poem was published in Mr. Smith's most recent book, The Dark Indigo Current.

The Road to Kenora, by Thomas R. Smith. This poem was published in Mr. Smith's most recent book, The Dark Indigo Current.

Admiring My Father, by Thomas R. Smith. This poem was published in Mr. Smith's most recent book, The Dark Indigo Current.

My Father Promised Me a Sword, by Thomas R. Smith. This poem first appeared in M.E.N. Magazine, and was published in Mr. Smith's first poetry book Horse of Earth.

The Cruel One, by Thomas R. Smith

The Boy Who Crawled, by Thomas R. Smith

Late for Thanksgiving Dinner, by Thomas R. Smith. This poem was published in Mr. Smith's first poetry book Horse of Earth.

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