The First Rain Poem by Anita Sehgal

The lightning flashes
ripping the sky.
Dark, thick clouds quickly hug to repair the rend.
The winds move cool and fast,
heralding the arrival of the much awaited rains.
The dried, parched earth,
with bated breath, lay coiled in anticipation.

Flashes lit up the wide countryside.....
Throwing up enchanting images
of the clustered houses.
Swinging trees and the
swaying tall grass acquire a mystical air.

It has been a long, relentless, searing summer.


The first rains … there is something magical about them.
The earthy, heady fragrance fills the air as the dancing drops make first contact.
The music thrills.
Pregnant with hope... life revives.


Children rush out to feel the first drops on their faces,
wrestle in the puddles
and to launch paper boats.

Birds let out their shrill, haunting pleas.
The creatures of the water quirk joyfully….
The peacocks shriek in joy and spread wide their colorful feathers.
Drops of water chase each other tantalizingly on the surface of the leaves.
Thousands of shades of green unravel from the dried earth.
A sheet of white rose as one into the darkened sky.

The rain … the thread which ties the earth and the sky.

A time for the lovers to unite,
the music to play, feet to dance, all hearts to bloom, for forgiveness....
… for love is in the air.

Tears fill my eyes as I watch the miracle, as the Lord quenches the longing of life.

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