A History of Drowning, 3

You had been watching your neighbors.
At first, they thought it was a coincidence
that you were by the window every time they looked out.
But once they knew you were watching,
it then seemed normal to them.
It seemed to you
that they were posing in their living rooms,
leaving the hall closet open, asking
for you to look inside.

This was before the rain. Then
you watched only the street and the water
running in the channels below the sidewalks.

There is a library in the middle.
To you, the pages will feel like cork.
The volumes will not tell you how to live your life,
but you will read them.