Conventions

The way we read from left to right, from top
to bottom of the page. The way buttons 
fasten differently on men's versus women's
shirts. Houses on one side of the street
are even-numbered, and on the other, odd.
Surely there was a time before someone
decided only men could inherit property 
or go to school, before someone thought it
best to walk or drive on the right side of
the road. Wise men are always saying things
like soup is supposed to come before the main 
course, and breakfast is between 7 and 9 AM. 
What is the right mood to wear over the rest
of the day? Life has no script for the way
ligiht falters, nor for the kind of rain that should
have fallen for this time of year. The river 
rose only so high many years ago. Yesterday 
it decided to buck its own conventions.