-after the rain-

the rain came fast and

the heavy winds from the northeast

had it angled sharply to the southwest.

it was a downpour

and everything was drenched.

it lasted only a minute or two

but that was enough to ruin

anything outside that belonged inside. 
then the floodwaters rolled

into the swallowing sewers

and the rush of crap passed in a line

pushed by the river of the gutter,

trapped like flotsam at the transom.

the natural shingles

of the street-side wall

of the house across the street

was blotched

in large areas of wetness.

I looked long and hard at this house

inventing pictures in the contrasts

the way lovers do with cumulous clouds

laying on their blankets at the picnics
so I mapped-out the face of Jesus.

first the long matted hair, then

the closely-placed eyes, the long nose
and then the narrow mouth,

then the scraggly beard, a crown of thorns

and lastly, the little drops of blood.

maybe the pilgrims will follow

walking on their knees

to the wall where jesus showed-up.

but I saw it first,

just after the rain.