Rain (in Five Parts)

I.
We squinted upwards
At the glaring sun,
And stared with hope
Upon
The gathered clouds
And all our talk was
Rain and rain,
Our prayers ascending
From a dusty land.

II.
In jags of light,
Our answer came
At last,
With distant rumbles drawing
Ever near.
We stood and felt the earth
Draw closer in,
Expectant, now, beneath
The shadowed sky.

Source unknown

III.
The raindrops come,
A sprinkling at first,
And dance for us
In fragrant tracery;
With steady pause,
They patter in the dust
And lift a tiny whirlwind
Drop and drop.

IV.
We spread our hands,
Unspeaking in our glee,
Our wordless thanks
Uplifted
In each daub
That paints the earth
A deeper shade of brown.



V.
With joyous shouts,
The storm
Blows in full force
And hushes all the land
With steady rain;
Renews us each
In strangely separate ways
And sends us on
Our paths,
Refreshed and clean.