The rain won’t stop. Or rather,
first rain, then sleet, then snow,
then back to rain with temps careening 
from eight to eighty, then back to forties. 
Taking the dogs out this morning, 
I sunk my foot deep in mud and thought
of Noah’s wife. When did she first whisper,
Maybe he’s on to something.

You tell me about elevation,
about catastrophic changes
to weather patterns in Europe–
how Italy could plunge into a
cold, dry death, how another 
thousand feet of elevation
could be useful for our next home.

The booming voice in your ears,
the overwhelming weight of science–
and I am thinking about what I’ll pack,
how I’ll live in that new world, 
no longer “if” but “when.”

Patricia Davis-Muffett holds an MFA from the University of Minnesota. Her chapbook, Alchemy of Yeast and Tears, was published in 2023. Her work has won honors and appeared in literary journals including About Place, Atlanta Review, Calyx, and Best New Poets. She lives in Rockville, Maryland.