A Rain of Leaves

by Donna [later Claire] Gallagher, Pat Gallagher, and Michael Dylan Welch

First published in Woodnotes #20, Spring 1994, page 7. Written 18 November 1993, at the Gallagher home in Sunnyvale, California. This was the first three-person rengay ever written.

a rain of leaves

before the first drops

mackerel clouds Claire

solstice sunrise

frost on the willow Pat

fingers knotted

behind my head

above me, the bristlecone pine Michael

fire-scarred madrone

open to the heartwood Claire

the dog’s whine

apple blossoms sprinkled

on the rusty lawn chair Pat

the redwood burl

shades a trillium Michael