Chicken Soup

an old man sits alone quietly eating his chicken soup

he likes saltine crackers in the soup

he crumbles them up three at a time into the cup

outside the rain is falling gently from melancholy clouds

but then isn’t that always the case

tears never fall from happy skies                             

he takes a moment to wipe his mouth with a paper napkin

beyond the fog gathering on the window

a school bus is offloading a mob of colorful bundles of energy

they splash in the puddles and dangle their tongues trying to catch a raindrop

the shouts and laughter find their way into the man’s quiet head

they dance around for a bit before dying off in the silence

he turns back to his soup and crumbles three more crackers into the cup

he breaks that silence between his ears for a moment

and wonders when it was raindrops became teardrops