999 days

you used to say

that raindrops

were big, fat tears

the angels cried

i'd raise my face to the sky,

stick out my little tongue

and catch them in my mouth

to get a taste of heaven

i let them wash over my skin

reveling in divine sadness

dancing in the downpour

because i didn't yet know what grief was

now i think of you when it rains

and i wonder

if i looked skyward and opened my mouth

would your tears be the raindrops i caught?