after Elizabeth Bishop

My body tenses. Not again!
A simple prayer, pure, undefiled
A flash of light, the rattling pane.

Day in, day out, it's all the same:
The coolness of the bathroom tile
At three o'clock, waked by rain.

Could such storms bode the final reign
Of the staring rock unmagnetized,
Difference that kills, the shattering pain?

If so, somehow, I must remain
To see bookworm, silverfish, and owl
inherit this house, waked by rain;

To praise the mildew's growing stain,
Cherished indifference running wild
Through milk soft light, the rattling pane
At three o'clock, I wake to rain.

-- Constance Merritt