RAIN SONG
I
Oh sweet rain I awake
Black night thunder tropical rhythm flashes drumming against patterned dreams
Rain Dance!
My heart leaps back to sweet schooldays
Early morning lightning
Thunder clap reverberating through high ceilings
Heralding cool dripping
Splashing through shallow pools of soft grass
Warm wet bare foot laughter
clay cooled vapor rising from red earth
heady mornings bringing renewal
Re-birth.
On rain nights
insects drone and crash against steamy security lights
Mouthwatering delicacy – nostalgic crunch
II
Today I live in an urban jungle
Rain dance becomes rain dirge.
floods cover cavernous potholes
ready to ambush worn tires.
Miserable cars come to an exhausted spluttering stop
slow death in choking tail light traffic
Laboriously crawling along
Wet hours punctuated by struggling window wipers
Rolled up trousers of commuting office clerks
expensive Sunday hairdos covered
by dripping black plastic bags
soaking stranded passengers
all 500 bodies pushing to occupy 35 seats
of a Lagos metro bus with one tail light missing
tempers flaring, abuses raining
carbon choking fumes
a body lies sprawled out on the curb of a 6 lane highway
is it a beggar adrift in village memories?
a tired area boy sleeping off a crack head operation?
or a down trodden graduate
finally giving up jobless hell hole days?
Giving up and letting go?
Groaning wipers, uneven struggle to keep up with
intensifying sheet rain
pelting . Unrelenting.
III
I close my eyes to mega city blues
My heart skips in childhood rain dance
fast winged bird flight
mist rising through smoky breeze
leaves rustle and bow to yet another wave
sweet Spirit filled rain
let me rise on soft
wings unfurled.
Lagos, May 17, 2010