Rain, St. James Park

This rain, cold, already

has drenched my American

walking shoes and socks,

each step a frigid squish

to the tune of Yankee Doodle,

like stepping through snow

covering amber waves of grain.

Summer’s last day, already

embracing fall, ivy leaves

barely beginning to redden

against a gray-white but no blue

sky, a few yellows dotting

the trees, a slight turn

to impressionism.

The park’s perimeter, already

surrounded by commuters in cars

and on bicycles, a rainy mayhem

of horns and watery whooshes

splashing unwary walkers and

joggers in the dawn’s early light,

the back of my English sweatshirt

already soaked by a combination

of steady rain and small umbrella.

I’m smiling.

Photograph: St. James Park, London, taken Sept. 22, 2015. The London Eye is barely visible above the trees in the left center of the photograph.