The deluge of never-ending rain
on the makeshift roof
was a wildly enthusiastic round of applause.
And then, boom!
Thunder rolled down the chimney stack into the room,
seconds later the lightening struck.
A voice in my ear said:-
“This applause could be for you. Perform!
Why hold back your thunder storm?
Let the rain dissolve your stagnant thoughts
and move you downstream
where you can be heard and seen.”
The insistent rainstorm abated
and the tin-wispy sound
of a train whistle filled the hush.
A patch of blue appeared,
the air lightened,
the children’s cries were heard again.
Thor had blitzed the dirty white sky
And torn a hole in the gutter
through which raindrops
pattered on the plastic roof
as regularly and insistently
as a heartbeat.
.
Sam Burcher
.