Feb 23
2008A Half Inch of Rain
Filed Under (Poems) by Noor-ul-ain Noor on 23-02-2008
A Half Inch of Rain
I loved rain
When home used to be
Across the Pacific.
Rain with its shallow ditches
Carrying earth colored
Water to their brims,
And fresh asphalt,
Black only moments ago
And shining in the sun,
Washing away in rivulets
Of tiny stones.
I loved its scents:
A wok with scalding oil,
Recycled
Perhaps more than once
And chick-pea flour
Kneaded to perfection,
Fried — golden grease.
And its sights:
Two streets down,
And one graveyard away
There was a row of shacks.
Filthy, beautiful,
Homeless children
Ran upon their naked legs,
Swam in the ditches
With junkyard tires
Around their waists,
Smiled toothlessly,
And waved at me
When I sat near the window
And watched
The rain that I loved
Fall, fall, fall,
In my world.
It rained today
On this side of the Pacific,
And I walked five miles
On good quality asphalt.
My shoes filled with water
On a lonely road,
Corporate and odorless.
There was a poster on the bus stop
With four children
In their polo shirts
And neat haircuts.
“Please slow down for us,”
It said.
I slowed down
Under the cover of my umbrella
With two cold, soaked feet,
And waved at their frozen smiles.
It rained today.
I walked in it
And felt it
Fall, fall, fall,
In my world.
ABOUT
your poem makes me sad, especially the ending. How can one person, in one lifetime, call two different places home?
again ur writin bout smth which is close to my heart n a fear buried deep within…after so many days i enter the world of RIL n look wat im greeted with..sigh…
its funny but i think i miss pakistan already…
There will be time, there will be time.
Time for a hundred decisions and indecisions.
Time is a two-faced witch, with her feet backwards. Good poem!
9.5/10
There will be time, there will be time
To prepare a face to meet the faces that you meet
No, my friend. Time is an elusive memory. I need to grasp it, and it keeps slipping away.
Thanks!
Hi all,
I made some changes to this to clarify what I mean. Some of my friends here in America were having a hard time understanding what I meant by the differences in rain - the descriptions were somewhat ambiguous to someone who has not seen rain in Pakistan. So the lines I added are in bold type. Check them out and tell me what you think.
Noor