Capricious Rain

You crept in slowly on my window sill when I was getting through the clutter of my day,
I snubbed you in the corner of my mind and burrowed myself into a pile of wind-up chores.
Come midnight, you drummed over my roof with a noisy clatter of raindrops falling astray.
It cracked through the silence of wee hours, it drowned the sound of our mutterings and whispers;
I held my daughter in my arms until your tempestuous repining melted into a soothing lullaby.

I wake up to a dreary dawn, the clouds determined to stay overcast for a while.
Writhing in the languor of a dark sky, we resolve to play, pattering through puddles.
With every leap, my girl screams with euphoria, her light feet springing agile.
We soak in your rapture; the chilly wind drives us away, our buoyant spirits muddled.
We come back home to put on crisp, clean clothes and drink hot chocolate; something in the air is heavy and still.

The day drags on while you come gushing down far and wide.
People flurry like ants, under bright umbrellas; the earth wraps itself around heavy wheels tracking their laborious journey.
We send paper-boats with dried twigs down the stream on our terrace, taking the rolling storm in a stride.
Laden with our dreams, the boats unsteadily sail down the murky stream, swirling in circles many.
Eventually my girl wearies of this game; the wind blows a whistle and I wait — wait for you to draw a breath.

I often wonder about you while watching you from a distance, never quite letting you in.
What is it that makes you evocative of romance to one and of misery and loss to another?
What is your true spirit? Perhaps you mirror that of the one who bears your light drizzle and thunderous torrent akin.
I picture myself standing amidst your cacophony, my arms outstretched to the cosmos undiscovered.
But I dare not let you in; you scream chaos, you wash away every facade, and in your evanescent blindness I’d fade — fade into nothingness…