Listen.
Once there was a drought.
Fish ponds shrank down,
Stinking.
Paddy fields dried up,
Cracking,
Rice shoots scorched brown,
Wilting.
So out of
Bamboo,
Silk
And rice paper,
People built a dragon
Then set fire to him.
Smoke rose in
A desperate calligraphy,
Until the dragon
Who controls weather,
Finally woke up
And as he started
Beating his wings
Wind blew.
Clouds grew.
The pale blue sky
Turned black.
Rain fell:
Paddy fields were ankle deep:
Rain fell:
Rice shoots grew green:
Rain fell:
Stinking ponds refilled.
But that was then
And no-one really believes it.
Now we build
Radio telescopes
Out of steel,
Micro-circuits
And lasers
Then broadcast
Our frantic equations:
Pray
That an answer
Will come.
Kevin Patrick McCann
Illustration Nick Victor
A new book of poems