They used to make rain charms
Back when they still knew how.
Farmers would flock to battlefields with baskets and pliers
Foraging for nails and teeth and hair
Lure for rainclouds to hang around the scarecrow's neck.
Dead soldiers have no use for rain nor teeth.
Even ones that live to see old age and retire
Loathe to clip their nails on a sunny day
Lest a witch gather all the clippings and brew up a storm.
Witches and soldiers understand
Enough of anything
Will always become too much.
They used to make love charms
Back when they still believed in love.
A witch would cut a soldier's hair in the pouring rain
Even as the farmers scrambled to retrieve their charms
And they'd pray for a storm to keep the battles at bay
For just one more day in each other's arms.
It is for this reason that they say
An old soldier must have a witch for a lover
Whose rain comes as a gift to the soldier.
Clouds don't gather for the dead friends with missing teeth
Although it can't be helped that they are missed.
For the purposes of a rain charm
One tooth's as good as any.