day 24
Dark August
So much rain, so much life the swollen sky
of this black August. My sister, the sun,
broods in her yellow room and won't come out.
Everything goes to hell; the mountains fume
like a kettle, rivers overrun; still,
she will not rise and turn off the rain.
She's in her room, fondling old things,
my poems, turning her album. Even if thunder falls
like a crash of plates from the sky,
she does not come out.
Don't you know I love you but am hopeless
at fixing the rain? But I am learning slowly
to love the dark days, the steaming hills,
the air with gossiping mosquitoes,
and to sip the medicine of bitterness,
so that when you emerge, my sister,
parting the beads of the rain,
with your forehead of flowers and eyes of forgiveness,
all will not be as it was, but it will be true
(you see they will not let me love
as I want), because, my sister, then
I would have learnt to love black days like bright ones,
the black rain, the white hills, when once
I loved only my happiness and you.
-Derek Walcott
twenty-four days of rain here in the puget sound area. straight days of rain. today, my mood reflects the sky. steady grayness. the record for straight days of rain is thirty-three. i will keep you posted.
liz lamoreux
Reader Comments (10)
Sorry about all the rain and the gray, dullness you're feeling. Me too. Seems like there is something in the ether these days. Hmmmmm....
Please send some of that extra rain out here, we could use it in Texas.
24 DAYS?????!!!
That's why it would be very hard for me to live in the Pacific Northwest. My sister moved to Vancouver last July and she's been a little blue about the gray skies. Luckily we visit in August!!
24 days of rain-- hmm, methinks you have the makings of a new tv series!
~Elizabeth
http://bluepoppy.omworks.com
Rain can be so hard to deal with all the time. It certainly does it's fair share in effecting my mood...I hope the sun comes out soon!! BEAUTIFUL poem.
please, please send it here. our area of texas is burning up, literally, wild fires, because we're so dry.
I think that would push me over the edge...hoping the sun breaks through soon...
ick, that's rough. we had sunshine yesterday, but it's gone today, so perhaps it is on its way to you... i'll keep my fingers crossed!
i adore this poem...
i'm sorry about the rain
but i am so glad you posted this
the line about the sun
brooding in her yellow room
has stayed with me for two days now...
i want to write words
that does that to people!