Poetry Pause is the League of Canadian Poets’ daily poetry dispatch. Read “Early Morning Rain” by Andreas Gripp.

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Early Morning Rain

By Andreas Gripp

In the yard,

you felt sorry for the slug

that crept so slowly up the stem

of one of your greens.

Poor thing,

it doesn’t even have a shell

to call a home.

Afterward,

I compared it with its cousin,

the snail, several of which will

gather in the garden

after an early morning rain—

sturdy,

in the swirly cave it carries

on its back,

a place to retract its head in

when it pours,

feigning it isn’t there, perhaps,

should a desperate, homeless mollusk

come to call,

knowing there isn’t

any room

for two,

and yet burdened

by that extra weight,

its inability to travel

wherever it may wish,

at its turtle-like, sloth-like pace,

like a car that’s always pulling

a camper/trailer,

never having the mettle

to face the world

when things get tough,

even ducking in its hovel

when there isn’t a cloud

in the sky.

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Copyright © Andreas Gripp

Previously published in Outré Cantata: Poems Selected and New (2024).

Andreas Gripp lives in London, Ontario, with his wife, Carrie. He is the author of over 30 books of poetry, including Urban Burlesque, You’re Dead After School, The Lucky Ones, and Outré Cantata: Poems Selected and New. His newest release, Prodigal Planet, will be launching in October of 2024.

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