Rain

Doors slam shut, off-stage
birds of prey float
under immense islands of bulging black cloud,
gleefully battling the high winds

Intimidating and awe-inspiring,
the Sky
leans over the prone
Earth,
issuing fearsome rumbles

Electric white streaks,
powerful beyond good and evil
smite some building unnervingly close
to where, atop another dwelling,
I watch action beyond my mortal understanding

[in pitiful defence,
I draw my feet up on my cane mount,
half-wondering if paint conducts electricity,
whether the chair is more paint or more blessed wood
and half-wondering if I would be struck down
in an instant
if I dared make a dash to safety]

Coconut trees amidst the grey houses
toss about their heads in wild passion

[and me like a microbe
anxiously watching the outcome
of a volatile encounter between
two multicellular creatures,
veritable planets not aware of its existence
nor the least bit bothered
at the prospect of squishing it]

as the earth is speckled by the first drops,
almost instantly,
the torrential rain darkens the soil

[Now safely beyond
the reach of nature-made electricity
and the sounds of nightmares,
I tell myself
it is the inconvenience of getting wet,
not some primeval fear
of the weapons of the Gods of Rain,
that drove me indoors]

April 30 2008