The Rain People

Who are these people who study the rain?

They come in their white vans and park

along the curb and there they are walking

down the street wearing protective gear

from head to feet. They have all manner

of instruments to observe the rain as it falls

upon their heads; sometimes they point

the devices straight up; sometimes at odd

angles; sometimes straight down for hours 

as the puddles grow. Sometimes they send

up their drones to zip among the drops

and the children gather to watch but

the rain people ignore them. There is

no way they'll give any of these kids

a turn. I kind of doubt any of them

has children. Cooler than the drones 

is a cube they hold up to catch the rain

which it's rumored preserves the drops

in an unbroken state so they can be

classified later. Sometimes the people

go back to their vans and stay inside

for most of the day, looking at micro-

scopes maybe, or polishing papers

to send to a peer-reviewed journal,

or maybe they're just watching TV.

Sometimes the vans leave and are gone 

for days but eventually they return

with the people who may or may not

be the same people.  

It's a good thing it's always raining 

around here, otherwise I have no idea 

what these people would do.