The Early Evening Before Worship Poem by Gert Strydom

Early evening before worship
my uncle watched the sky,
looking at the gathering clouds
and later when it started to rain

I found him on the porch,
with the dog lying at his feet,
deep from the house a woman’s voice called
but we said nothing to each other,

just saw the rain falling down with thunder strokes,
smelling the odour of the wet earth
and it was as if our lives were suddenly clean
while the swallows was diving down to their nests

and on the porch we were and the God of the universe,
while the rain fell clattering from heaven.