Ghosts in the Rain

by Patrick Hayes

For Anjali

Oh, hear you not the howling wind
That drives the rain upon the night?
The naked storm has come to scream
In creeping hours before I dream
Half-broken words, and chants recite
That never passed a mortal mind,

Nor graced a living tongue with speech.
And I have heard the whispers here
Of angels in their mantles pure,
A siren's call that sounds to lure
The seeking soul from cold and drear,
To crash upon a brilliant beach

Far off beyond a misty sea,
Where sorrow has no lease and hurt
Is dim remembered. Oh, to lie
And gaze into that endless sky
That always with the stars is girt
And never ere the morn shall flee.

The Author

Patrick Hayes is a sophomore at Wichita State University in Wichita, Kansas, studying computer science and geology. He has been writing poetry since 1996. Patrick's hobbies include reading, writing, webdesign, and burning dinner.