Friday 23 May 2014

Give me raindrops or give me death

A metallic smell expands and lifts into the air
Hefting punching blows of magnetic heat waves
Beating torrential blasts of almost gunpowder flare
Rushing up our backs burning skin and hair

Paper lips that haven't licked nor water kissed
Looking up at slate-grey skies hoping for a glimpse
Of any unfriendly flinty water we aren't choosy
Of any yellowy glint of dew we don't care

Even a brown muddy wetness or rusty slurry glue
But no, no, not even a drop of water shines in situ
Who poured hot concrete over our once green earth
Crushing over our bodies o did we lose a devil's dare?

Empty sky squashes out over dead cloud-space
And dry-eyed dehydrated flowers sink into sandy ash
Parched cemetery a desert offering of peeling blisters
No moisture no oasis to save us no hope to spare

All around the deadened wrath of the stratosphere
Squashing the skies beneath in never ending woe
Covered in a draft of cloudless rainbow-less fear
When will this egregious water purgatory end?

From the ends of the skies a thirsty bird chirps relief
Arid fumes of a grassy pulse struggles across the winds
Give us raindrops oh please now or give us death
Fragile burnt hope beckons we tiptoe across in silence

Anne V


The Rain - A Writing Prompt from: Poetry Jam
http://poetryjaam.blogspot.com/2014/05/rain.html






15 comments:

Mary said...

It must be so difficult to be in such a severe drought that even death would be preferable to continuing to live on. I feel the desperation in this poem...and I can almost smell those arid fumes.

Helen said...

Awesome write! Third stanza blew me away ... much like a gust of rain and wind!

Anne V said...

Thank you Mary and Helen for your comments n kind reviews. Yes, the recent water rationing in my corner of the hemisphere here was hard to handle. Glad that is over for now!

Gabriella said...

The longing for the rain is very tangible in your poem. Very powerful imagery.

Anne V said...

It is exactly how one feels with no easy access to water, a basic human right. Thank you Gabriella for your kind comment... :)

Brian Miller said...

in the heat...with no access to water or in a drought...yeah you nailed it...a desperation that is palpable....

Sumana Roy said...

i can relate to that...in our place we just had a very brief (3 to 4 mins.)
spell of rain this morning...nice lines...

Anne V said...

Thank you Brian for the prompt!! My first from a Poetry Jam prompt.

Thank you Sumana. Lack of water supply. Only suffered it once in my life, early this year, and for a fortnight only, but it was a horrid time indeed. My heart goes out to those for whom this is a normal daily thing. Ugh.

Grace said...

Well reading this made me reach for a glass of water ~ You have painted the parched land so well that I hope that relief is coming your way ~ I am thankful for our cool spring with lots of rain now ~ And nice to meet you ~

Swathi Shenoy said...

That really sounds like a difficult situation!! Nice poem Anne :) and it is my first try at poetry jaam too :) Cheers ;)

http://swathishenoy.blogspot.in/2014/05/rains.html

Anne V said...

Thank you Grace and thank you Swathi for visiting. Am so glad the water issues have ameliorated awhile. It just shows how vulnerable humans are to the elements. Mother Nature is powerful.

Peggy said...

Yes, give us rain!

alan1704 said...

I can taste the despair and the prayers of hope. Well done and well written

Laurie Kolp said...

Empty sky squashes out over dead cloud-space
And dry-eyed dehydrated flowers sink into sandy ash
Parched cemetery a desert offering of peeling blisters
No moisture no oasis to save us no hope to spare


I feel the despair... hope for some relief.

Anne V said...

Thank you my dears. The dry hot days continue but at least now there is intermittent rain on certain days. Usually after I wash my car of all the dust, then it rains!

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