Richard Siken
The Subjunctive
It rained. It did. It had been raining. That it had been raining. That it could have been raining. That they wished it had not been raining. They would have been there. They might have been there. They could have. They hope that they will eventually be there. They expect they will. In the future they will. In the future it will stop raining and they will. It will have stopped raining. When is now? He sleeps. He is sleeping. They hope that he is sleeping. They wait for him while hе is sleeping or they don’t. He will be bеtter after a while or he won’t. He will be better before long or he won’t. They have been thinking. That he will be better. That they are hoping. That he come back. That he come back soon. That he come back to the way he was soon. Whether or not he comes back to the way he was soon. If he does. When he does. He is reaching. He is running. He is sleeping and running. May he be sleeping and running back to the way he was.