First Monsoon Rain

The Sky’s face darkens

The mighty Rain God arrives

Charging on his great chariot

Of billowing clouds

Steered by his charioteer

The tempestuous Wind God

The Sun God runs for cover

Hiding his face behind grey swathes

The Wind God kicks up puffs and gusts

Of dust, bits of trash, fallen leaves

The clouds grow heavier, The wind blows harder

Curtains on windows flip flap

The wash on clotheslines flail and lash

Trees sway, branches thrash, a twig snaps

A door somewhere slams – Bang!

The Rain God hurls a lightning stab

Which jags through the sky and jabs

The cowering earth

A whip of thunder cracks

Pigeons break into a cloud of flap flap

Fat pellets of rain pelt and spatter

The grass flattens and drowns

The mud melts and runs brown

In rivulets - on hills, fields, streets

Where the roadside tea seller sits

Under his tattered tin roof

Selling glasses of steaming hot brew

Buses, cars, rikshas, scooters plunge

Through pools of mud

Spattering scurrying people

Drenched cows, shivering dogs

A sodden crow calls caw-caw

The heady smell of wet earth

Mingles with the fumes of petrol

Rotting garbage and new green leaves

My eyes fly into the clouds

A bird breaking free

My wings spread wide

And in my cupped heart

I gather drops of 
The first Monsoon Rain