13/365 When it rains

I miss you when it rains,
When the clean water falls
Carrying with it the smell of sky
Dissolving any trace
Of you

The day we met
I was no stranger to attention
Painted the bright red
Of emergency
Magnet for second glances
Beckoning passively
From the corner of the eye

And for all my luster
The draw of my curves
And petite stature
It was never love
They never once made me feel
Special.  Only used.
Only dirty.
Some liked the smell of it on me,
Others bristled a the thought that another
Would dare leave their mark where they had.

But you,
You padded up
Like I was a fresh piece of plumbing
Walked in careful circles, like you always do.
Three times clockwise,
One turn back the other way.
Even when the street lights are out
I'll always know it's you.
The way you sniff  so gently
Just above my valve
Gingerly, so delicate
Tip your hip skyward
Reveal to me your underbelly
Most pink and tender
Mark me as your own
Once on the street side,
Then again from the sidewalk.

You're my boy.
The man with the leash
Has come to understand this
He no longer shakes his head at your rituals
He knows love when he sees it.
He knows you won't walk so eagerly
down any other side street but this one.
I am a public utility,
But I will always be yours.

You forgive all those times
With all those others
As though they'd never happened
You have marked me a thousand times as your own
I am in your blood.
I'm your hydrant.
I know love
When I feel it.