The Second Rain
A grandly booming, flashing shower
Comes flying in and promptly starts
To soak the neighborhood an hour.
This done, still rumbling, it departs.
The garden plants, once somnolent,
Are jostled wet awake and clean,
While in long grasses skewed and bent
Droplets shine and the day is green.
There’s no disturbance now. The sky
Is stilled; the land regains its poise,
Soon to be settled down and dry.
Birds flounce with customary noise.
A breeze swings in on deck and lawn.
Above, the maples sway and then,
With day benign and weather gone,
The shaken leaves shed drops again.
Cold water sprinkles on your head
And pelts you mildly as you leap
With comical, reflexive dread
As if you had been roused from sleep.
But please, don’t fear, it’s nothing much,
Just nature’s jest, a second rain—
And barely that—a teasing touch
Of water last released, not pain.
And as you smile, do recognize
How rare it is, fortuitous,
That wordless earth and silent skies
Should treat you to this merry fuss.
Then join the jest, the second rain,
And feel the last drop on your face
To be a balmy summer gain
That wakens vigilance and grace.
The moss is green between the stones
And vivid too the watered grass
Where sunlight plays in shifting tones
On droplets that are soon to pass.
Toward all signs sent or sprung by chance
May you with calm and balance keep
Your mind prepared for happenstance.
Be ready to be roused from sleep.
Bhikkhu Nyanasobhano is a native of Kentucky who for many years has been a bhikkhu, a Buddhist monk of the Theravāda tradition.
This is a beautiful poem of nature with wonderful images that is well wrought and “sprinkled” with evocative words. The “second rain” is something that had to be experienced. I continue to be amazed by nature poems like yours that are creative and emphasize something of which I had given little thought.
I really enjoyed this lovely poem with its delightful images and as Roy
alluded to above, a new perspective on “the second rain”. Especially like
the”flouncing” of birds and all the joyful renditions of the rain’s second appearance.
This gentle and uplifting poem portrays a whimsical experience known to us all. We’re accustomed to anticipating big surprises but are confronted with many small ones. The poem’s imagery reminded me of Thomas Hardy’s “Snow in the Suburbs,” wherein a resting sparrow is bombarded with collapsing snow from the branch above him. Gravity plays no favorites. Thanks for brightening my day, Bhikkhu.
Bhikku Nyanasobhano, your “Second Rain” is a delicately developed delight. From the booming beginning to the entrance of the human observer, the “merry fuss” leads step by step to a happy invitation into awakenings brought about by “happenstance.” It can’t help but cheer the reader. Like the plants in an early stanza, he’s “jostled wet awake and clean.” That’s a powerful line of positive description, with four words of different meaning not needing to be separated by commas. Superb!
Very lovely description, and insightful thought about the joy a “second rain” offers us. “This done, still rumbling, it departs.” and “Birds flounce with customary noise” are especially delightful lines.
Thank you, Bhikkhu! Most enjoyable! “Just nature’s jest, a second rain” is a delightfully playful line that transforms the familiar into a smile. It is also quietly profound. I love the philosophical close. Beautiful!
Some lovely touches to your poem, Bhikkhu Nyanasobhano. I live in a desert, so these descriptions of rain with all their sensual imagery are quite affecting.
This poem holds the delightful spirit of a raindrop in every verse! I could feel the water on my head as I read it (figuratively of course).
I love the keen, detailed descriptions that place the reader right into the scene. I could practically feel the splash of raindrops on my forehead. You also bring the reader straight into the interior world, conveying a sense of unbridled joy, This was a delight to read.