I Thought It Would Rain Today Poem by Hugh Cobb

I thought it would rain today
sky hanging low & threatening
but like a bully w/o balls
it merely blustered:
making idle threats
sky crying, 'Wolf! '
an empty politician's promise...

I was hoping for cold & wet
something wintry & seasonal at least
but had to settle for a monotonous grey
that covers Winter's sky a cold blanket
rarely broken by clear, piercing blue
Light so clean it hurts
to see naked trees
Naked truth...

What are we to do
when seasons run together a blur
so you have to check a calender
just to know what the season is...
weather as metaphor for mediocrity.

Tabloidized information corrupted
& fed by special interests
(the mysterious 'they')
when it is we who have abdicated,
given our power to the box
surrendered to pushers of mediocrity & fear
who deliver their products
on the evening news
brought to you by the latest disease...

Even weathermen try:
making any gust of wind
a matter of life & death:
disaster specials, tabloid storified
glorified fear:
'Watch tornadoes from the safety
of your very own boudoir! ! ! '
& all so we don't really have to feel
anything
thats remotely honest or real...

Where is Noah, now?
Who's building an ark?
Because if that sameness,
blandness & false sense of security
is ever replaced w/ winter's piercing light
we can go inside & reflect
on who we really are
on who we want to be...

So when fear mongers &
pushers of mediocrity call,
the promise of rain, of flooding
& destruction will not be
just an idle threat.

(Copyright 12/7/2005)