Silence settles like a sticky membrane
Across an anxious land
Which holds its breath, as the pressure rises
And wildlife head for cover
Birds silenced as their song is quashed
As static crackles and dark clouds gather
A raging swirl of darkened rain
Held back in a swollen mass
Then the release as the fire explodes
Shooting white hot arrows to the quivering ground
And in answer to the burning torture
The sky screams out a rumbling moan
Which resonates across the hills
Quietening to a murmur across the distance.
But the pregnant clouds have not finished their labour
Another flash of white fire
Sends out white stems across the sky
Like roots from a tree searching for sustenance
But not finding it the sky cries out its agony
As finally the waters break
A heavy wall of droplets head to Earth
And hit the ground like a wave hitting shore
Gurgling streams soon fill to burst
And still the rain falls
Waterfalls are born over grey cragged hills
And still the rain falls
Once placid rivers are now raging rapids
And the sky sighs its relief
Its labour done
A sigh becomes a breeze becomes a wind
And the clouds now drained of rain are carried away
Leaving the land scrubbed clean and new
Surviving to see another day.