Rain Poem by Fergal Dunne

There was silence, an eerie calm
And then the rain came.
Slowly at first, so slowly
That the dry barren earth
Greedily soaked up each falling drop.
I tilted my head skywards,
The random splashes pitter patter, pitter patter
Against my lips and eyes and mouth and chin.
Children ran barefoot in the still forming puddles
Skipping and singing songs.
Women gave praise for the almighty relief.
Men spoke of fields and crops
Blessed would be the next harvest
Reaped from arable fertile lands.
The repetition of raindrops on rooftops
Grew faster.
Deafening thunder and frightening strikes of lightening
Broke the harder to decipher rhythm.
By nightfall
It was a deluge.
I didn’t sleep, in fact, I didn’t want to sleep.
I just lay uncovered
Listening to the tones
Of rain against corrugated iron roofing.
I counted one thousand, two thousand, three thousand
Till the room illuminated
Again and again and again
As electrifying bolts from the heavens
Cast night momentarily into day.
I reflected on the beauty and the power from above.
I felt no fear.
I was in awe.
I thought about home.
Scurrying from shop front to bus shelter,
Getting splashed by the 417 from Crystal Palace,
Arriving at work wet and dismal.
But here,
I felt such joy and happiness.
The wait was over for everyone,
The thin line between despair and prosperity
Had been broken
Not by any magical materialistic miracle.
But just simply
By rain.