Barbara Poem by Michelle Reynolds

Oh Barbara, thou surely remember
It was pouring cats and dogs on Brest
And thou wert walking in the rain smiling
Dripping wet but ravishing and glowing
Rain droplets kept coming down in buckets
Oh Barbara, thou surely remember
It was pouring cats and dogs on Brest
And in rue de Siam our paths cross'd
You smiled like a little girl lost
And I smiled as well
What the hell
If I didn't know who you could be
And you wondered, Who the hell is he?
Remember Barbara, remember it well
Thou dost remember then?
Remember that day?
You've not forgotten.
A man sheltering under a doorway
And he called out your name in the rain
Barbara
And you ran after him all the same
Dripping wet but ravishing and glowing
And you threw yourself in his arms, ravishing
Remember this Barbara
That I call you thou you must allow
I say thou to those I love and cherish
Please grant me this innocent wish
I say thou to people who've plighted their troth
Even when I don't know either or both
Oh Barbara, you must remember
Those torrents wise and merry
Falling on your blissful visage
On this radiant city
The rain on the sea
On the arsenal
On the Ouessant ferry
Oh Barbara,
War's such an insanity,
Where are you now, are you unharmed?
When iron and steel; s coming down like a flood
When it's raining shells and smoke and blood
And the man who held you in his arms
So lovingly
Is he dead and gone or lives he still?
Oh Barbara, did they his blood spill?
The rain on Brest takes no rest
It rains like before, unendingly
But it's not the same rain, it's tainted
With the like of which we; re unacquainted
It's not the same thunder of yore
It's one of steel death and gore
Just dark clouds
Invoking shrouds
Which like sick dogs perish
When dogs go away and vanish
Along the water on Brest
And go far to rot away
Very very far away from Brest
Which is now rubble and decay