Once again, like storms I remember from my childhood,

The rain has returned to fill the fields and forests

With deep puddles and the kind of mud that can swallow machines.

She has been sleeping late this morning

Because there is nowhere to go

And the weather is as good as a locked gate.

I watch her face, trying to record the details of her appearance.

I have seen her kindness

It comes out of her like the glow from a flame.

It makes me smile, a sad little happiness.

She shares pictures of dogs with me.

Animals who need adopting from the pound;

She would have them all if she could.

And in her gentle love of animals and from her thoughtful acts

There grows a gentle love in me.

The kind of feeling that lets a single tear fall from my eye.

I am ashamed in case she sees it

And asks me ‘are you crying?’

I would laugh and say no, my eyes are tired.

The truth is; it is a tear that says

You have touched my heart.