we needed that rain

more rain is expected.
but you have an umbrella.
you have boots.
you have long pants.
a hat. you have windshield
wipers if you need to drive
some where.
you don't worry about rain too much.
but you always wonder
why so many people say
we need the rain.
maybe they're farmers and their
crops are dry.
but they live next door to you.
they don't even have
a tomato growing in their
back yard.
we needed that rain,
they say, nodding their heads
with knowledge
of the earth that somehow
has escaped you.
are they measuring it.
testing the soil.
making studies of the annual
rainfall? you don't know.
sometimes you'll ask them why.
why did we need so much rain,
which usually ends
the conversation as they raise
their hand to say goodbye.