Niagara Falls

I am home again and just a walk away from the falls.
Jessica holds my hand in the rain.
I'm holding the umbrella to keep us dry.
She holds her purse in her other hand
as we stand next to an Asian couple.
The man snaps pictures of a squirrel.

We watch the cute rodent be a squirrel,
showing off for the Asian couple who traveled to the falls.
But it's fall and the squirrel needs to store a couple
of nuts for the winter. The clouds soak us with rain.
The squirrel is all business, searching the ground with his hands
for acorns. He picks one up and buries it so it will stay dry.

The acorn is in the ground now, harvested and dry.
He is competing with the other squirrels.
Nearby, a few more are harvesting with their tiny hands.
A gust of wind shakes some oaks and more acorns fall
like the rain
as I roof us with the umbrella. Our hands still coupled.

American tourists walk by and leave in couples,
ignoring the squirrels keeping their nuts dry.
They have seen the falls and want to get out of the rain.
"For God's sake, they're just squirrels."
I can always see the rodents. I live in Niagara Falls.
Jessica lets go of my hand.

She takes a granola bar out of her purse with her precious hand
and breaks the snack in to a couple
of small pieces. I take in a deep breath of misty American Falls.
Jessica no longer cares to keep her hair dry.
She crouches and offers the squirrel
a piece of granola in the November rain.

I watch, as the squirrel approaches her cupped hand in the rain.
The Asian tourists smile with me as the squirrel takes the snack with its hands.
Jessica stands back up, smiles and watches the squirrel.
I stand next to the picture-taking Asian couple.
Jessica comes back under the umbrella to keep dry.
She holds my hand in Niagara Falls.