One Rainy Evening

This night was bitter.
Its cloaking blackness was coupled with
A relentless cold, suspended and dormant.
The static hung crisp in the air,
Making the soundless sound full.
Noises layer one another, with a chaotic quality,
Like leaves in autumn.
Further on, the shivering rush of car tyres fades over
The crescendo of the trickling, plopping drains.
Dark clouds have congregated.
Bubbling, dirty, acidic clouds,
Merging, whisking up into a black
Storm-laden concoction.
The air of suspense is suddenly smashed
By a spangled streak
Strobing the area with a fleeting, searching glare,
Silhouetting the skyline instantaneously
And darkness caresses the heavens once more.
Thunder rifts the evening sounds and detonates like a sonic boom,
Reverberating, rumbling, growling its angry message,
Hollow, yet booming, throughout the surrounding hills and valleys,
As its accompanying downpour bounces up,
Drenching clothing and swamping the
Earth's eager plants stretching out to be
Finally gratified by the life-giving,
Poisonous water from the heavens.
Angry rushing feet splash through the newly formed puddles
As they are urged on to shelter.
Others plod on, getting damper and wetter
As another shaft of lightning blinked
And the resounding blast of thunder was coupled with
The heavy, rainy, bitter cold night.

Rosemary Dobson, Australian poet, died today in 2012.

Allen Grossman, American poet, critic and professor, died today in 2014.