sleepaway #1

it rained the night of our arrival -

big, whooshing gasps of whitewashed rain & thunder that

shook heavy against the darkening skies. dinner went long.

we only sang louder, deafening echoes beneath the storm as

the hills sank to swamps outside. walking back to our lines

we laughed brazenly at our good fortune; the rain

dried suddenly to a whisper & we moved restlessly about our

cabins, bugle twenty minutes late. later opening campfire was

inside, nothing more than paper-plate s'mores & white LEDs

wrapped tight around a log, a singsong story from

somewhere in the back of the book. we smiled gently as we

ate sticky marshmallows, slightly burnt, and lightning

banged white-hot fifteen miles away. taps

came at ten as we drowsed in our bunks, murmuring complaints

about the heat. we fell asleep listening to the harmony

of raindrops on the tin cabin roof as it really began to pour.