We stood on the rented patio <br />While the party went on inside. <br />You knew the groom from college. <br />I was a friend of the bride. <br /> <br />We hugged the brownstone wall behind us <br />To keep our dress clothes dry <br />And watched the sudden summer storm <br />Floodlit against the sky. <br /> <br />The rain was like a waterfall <br />Of brilliant beaded light, <br />Cool and silent as the stars <br />The storm hid from the night. <br /> <br />To my surprise, you took my arm– <br />A gesture you didn't explain– <br />And we spoke in whispers, as if we two <br />Might imitate the rain. <br /> <br />Then suddenly the storm receded <br />As swiftly as it came. <br />The doors behind us opened up. <br />The hostess called your name. <br /> <br />I watched you merge into the group, <br />Aloof and yet polite. <br />We didn't speak another word <br />Except to say goodnight. <br /> <br />Why does that evening's memory <br />Return with this night's storm– <br />A party twenty years ago, <br />Its disappointments warm? <br /> <br />There are so many might have beens, <br />What ifs that won't stay buried, <br />Other cities, other jobs, <br />Strangers we might have married. <br /> <br />And memory insists on pining <br />For places it never went, <br />As if life would be happier <br />Just by being different.<br /><br />Dana Gioia<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/summer-storm-15/
