Pouring rain from above
On this strangely humid summer night.
Lightning strikes peppering the vast canvas,
followed by those familiar
(but far too rare)
rumblings of the skies in motion.
I sit within this box of metal and plastic –
a man-made marvel
which replaced our hoofed friends
generations ago;
blue lights streaking across the sky,
as the relentless attacks of the water battalions
surge onto my roof.
Pipes gush forth
with the precious liquid
which has evaded us for months,
as stormwater drains eagerly gulp down
this rare drink,
most welcome in the driest of seasons.
Such nights are rare.
Rarer still
is the opportunity to witness them in solitude.
Tonight’s chance coming after an adventure
out in torrid weather
fit only for (brave) ducks.
Ironic, too,
that our power is off –
loadshedding in its fourth hour:
an electrical shortage
brought on by human corruption,
as bolts of raw energy are hurled down to us in abundance.
If only we could capture them…
Store and use the power.
The cleanest of energy
to replace the fossil fuels
which pollute the only sky we have.
Yet man’s corruption would ruin that too…
Greed and negligence a hallmark
of our supposedly competent leaders,
who have dragged us
through 15 years of electrical constraint.
But now is not the time for such ponderances,
for this rain
and these streaks
wait for none.
And before I know it,
they’ll depart.
So as I sit within
the safety of this modern-day carriage,
I give thanks
for the front row seat
to God’s light show.
<Encore because this isn’t the first poem on the topic>
slip-sliding away..... 