Carousel Blues

[milo]

I only remember summer nights
because that's when rain would pummel my town,
birth steam fogs out of manholes,
create lakes in neighbors' driveways so large--
I couldn't help but stomp, splash,
kick road to the carnival.

I kept reading that it should be 'creates' as I read 'steam' as the antecedent. I suppose it is rain but, syntactically you have created something strange.

birth steam fogs

yep, that is it.

does rain birth steam fogs?
or does birth-steam fog?

if it is the prior, then it should be births, if it is the latter than it should be creates.