Beautiful poem, Rajani! Rain was always considered romantic and poetic. I love rains except when it muddies the roads or floods and takes people's lives. The lines "The rain, weapon. The rain, wound." reminded me of the recent rains in Kerala. We all get worried when it rains non-stop in Kerala, not knowing what havoc will the rains cause next. Otherwise the rain is soothing and feels like a blessing. Loved the lines "Clouds bend lower to pray." 😍
Thank you, Vidya...yes, rain has a dark side and I tend to write to it a lot, especially as we get deeper into the monsoon. But writing this poem in March was purely inspiration from those other two splendid poems.
Thank you, Mahdi...it is an interesting concept isn't it...if we think of rain as renewal, then something has succumbed and is in need of renewal - earth or spirit...or love. Rain is a muse from every POV!!!
Yes, yes, we must, K...if we can. Sometimes though, much like the monsoon, we have no control over it...I wish all arks were possible, actually I wish there were no arks needed...
Having lived in a Monsoonal climate (Darwin, in our Northern Territory) this poem speaks to me of the Northern Monsoon, in a city I have never seen... a nation I have never been....
Thanks so much, David. I didn't know Darwin was Monsoonal (live and learn everyday)! Officially we have two "monsoons" - the first from Jun to Sep and then the retreating monsoon in Oct/Nov. The coasts get the bulk of the rain, so we're relatively okay... but it is the most evocative season!! Full of poetry!!
Northern Australia has one Monsoon - and therefore two main seasons: "The Wet" and "The Dry" as they are called locally. Not very imaginative!!!
(Although in fact the traditional owners of the lands - the First Nation/Aboriginal people do recognise and have names for several other seasons).
Essentially - in the far North - it is almost entirely dry from Mid March through until around November. Towards the end of the year the humidity builds day by day, and the heat, but it does not rain. People go a bit crazy! Because the mango fruit are ripening through this time, it gets called "the mango season." Eventually, after a couple of months of this, the first rains come, with hot steamy mornings building to a massive afternoon thunderstorm. Then - later in "The Wet" major rain systems can arrive - including Tropical Cyclones - and it can rain torrentially for many days at a time.
The the rains end, and everything starts to dry out......
And yes - the monsoon is a time of poetry. Particularly for someone like me - who adores rain and storms!!
I would love to see the Monsoon in your incredible country....
Oh we too have our Mango season in Apr/ May before the rains start!! Can't wait for next month - 37C yes, but then mangoes!! And do visit if you can... the monsoon on the west coast with all the waterfalls dancing down the hills is quite the experience!!
Thanks so much for reading, Cendrine. So glad you like that line...it does feel like life is tottering on an edge during the heaviest part of the monsoon!
i REALLY enjoy the imagery in the second stanza referring to the age of things… it affects my soul when i consider these thing on my own. to read them in such striking words nearly brought me to tears.
Thank you, Rebecca. The monsoon is a blessing but it also dumps misery on so many with the flooding and displacement and urban chaos. I have a love-hate relationship with it... :)
I sometimes wonder what it must be like to live in a world where the “rains” come, to have an least some idea when it will rain and for how long. Though the world is changing all over. Where are you?
In the southern part of India. We've always known the monsoon will set in sometime in the first week of June. What climate change will do these patterns is a scary, scary thought.
"The sky of a billion years
enters each drop. " - that's really beautiful l, Rajani. An incredible poem 💞
Thank you, Nazish. It was amazing to read those other two poems and I just had to bring that rain home. :)
Beautiful poem, Rajani! Rain was always considered romantic and poetic. I love rains except when it muddies the roads or floods and takes people's lives. The lines "The rain, weapon. The rain, wound." reminded me of the recent rains in Kerala. We all get worried when it rains non-stop in Kerala, not knowing what havoc will the rains cause next. Otherwise the rain is soothing and feels like a blessing. Loved the lines "Clouds bend lower to pray." 😍
Thank you, Vidya...yes, rain has a dark side and I tend to write to it a lot, especially as we get deeper into the monsoon. But writing this poem in March was purely inspiration from those other two splendid poems.
Yes, I could feel the cool rain drops in your words 😍 Thank you for sharing this.
Great writing. Love "March that thinks it is May" and "breath is a paper boat".
Thanks so much for reading, Rachel and glad you liked those lines!!! :)
Conjures up Nietzsche’s sentiment in Thus Spoke Zarathustra:
“You must be ready to burn yourself in your own flame: how could you become new, if you had not first become ashes?”
Thank you, Mahdi...it is an interesting concept isn't it...if we think of rain as renewal, then something has succumbed and is in need of renewal - earth or spirit...or love. Rain is a muse from every POV!!!
Beauitiful! (And inspired a response, at my 'Enheduanna's Daughter' blog.)
Thanks so much, Rosemary! A crazy, lingering storm...glad the worst of it has passed. I loved the response poem. I'll leave the link here for anyone wanting to read about Cyclone Alfred and Rain in Australia. https://enheduannasdaughter.blogspot.com/2025/03/and-sometimes-it-rains-outside-poem.html
Oh, thank you!
This is a wonderful meditation on rain and also of how poems and poets inspire each other. Your poem to rain and the poetry of rain is masterful.
Thanks so much for reading, Laura. Glad you liked the poem!
This is a perfect example of "sometimes it rains inside a poem." I felt the wetness. Beautiful. As is your photo.
Thank you, Sherry. Glad it resonated. The picture is AI generated!!
Thank you for this!
Thanks so much for reading, Callahan. Glad you liked it!!
But we must build our own arks, mustn't we?
Yes, yes, we must, K...if we can. Sometimes though, much like the monsoon, we have no control over it...I wish all arks were possible, actually I wish there were no arks needed...
That would be wonderful...yes I wish that too.
Wonderful poem. I especially loved “breath is a paper boat.”
Thank you, LeeAnn. So glad you liked that line..the monsoon lasts for months, it is both lifeline and threat...in so many ways!!
Every image holds me, and this
takes me to Bangalore:
"While the city gives up
from its deluged womb,
rats and snakes
and traffic snarls: the
red light like a bug smashed
against the windshield
bloodied and dripping.
The rain, weapon. The rain, wound."
Having lived in a Monsoonal climate (Darwin, in our Northern Territory) this poem speaks to me of the Northern Monsoon, in a city I have never seen... a nation I have never been....
Thanks so much, David. I didn't know Darwin was Monsoonal (live and learn everyday)! Officially we have two "monsoons" - the first from Jun to Sep and then the retreating monsoon in Oct/Nov. The coasts get the bulk of the rain, so we're relatively okay... but it is the most evocative season!! Full of poetry!!
Yes ... I have read about this.
Northern Australia has one Monsoon - and therefore two main seasons: "The Wet" and "The Dry" as they are called locally. Not very imaginative!!!
(Although in fact the traditional owners of the lands - the First Nation/Aboriginal people do recognise and have names for several other seasons).
Essentially - in the far North - it is almost entirely dry from Mid March through until around November. Towards the end of the year the humidity builds day by day, and the heat, but it does not rain. People go a bit crazy! Because the mango fruit are ripening through this time, it gets called "the mango season." Eventually, after a couple of months of this, the first rains come, with hot steamy mornings building to a massive afternoon thunderstorm. Then - later in "The Wet" major rain systems can arrive - including Tropical Cyclones - and it can rain torrentially for many days at a time.
The the rains end, and everything starts to dry out......
And yes - the monsoon is a time of poetry. Particularly for someone like me - who adores rain and storms!!
I would love to see the Monsoon in your incredible country....
Best Wishes - Dave
Oh we too have our Mango season in Apr/ May before the rains start!! Can't wait for next month - 37C yes, but then mangoes!! And do visit if you can... the monsoon on the west coast with all the waterfalls dancing down the hills is quite the experience!!
This line hit me hard (but in a great way): "Breath is a paper boat." Wow!
Thanks so much for reading, Cendrine. So glad you like that line...it does feel like life is tottering on an edge during the heaviest part of the monsoon!
Indeed!
i REALLY enjoy the imagery in the second stanza referring to the age of things… it affects my soul when i consider these thing on my own. to read them in such striking words nearly brought me to tears.
great poem. worthy of its subject :)
Thanks so much, Carolina. That's very kind. Am so glad you enjoyed the poem.
Beautiful to read, thank you
Thanks so much, Sofie. Glad you liked it!!
Each spring, I wonder if it's the last one.
This is lovely. And difficult in places, which is what makes it compelling.
Thank you, Rebecca. The monsoon is a blessing but it also dumps misery on so many with the flooding and displacement and urban chaos. I have a love-hate relationship with it... :)
I sometimes wonder what it must be like to live in a world where the “rains” come, to have an least some idea when it will rain and for how long. Though the world is changing all over. Where are you?
In the southern part of India. We've always known the monsoon will set in sometime in the first week of June. What climate change will do these patterns is a scary, scary thought.