Rain Drops

Bouts of lightning flashes,swirls And lightens up the pitch, black night Of our neck of the woods Tailgated by stealthy footsteps Of growling, grunting, moaning and roaring thunder, As in gnashing and grinding of canine As rain, like beads of sweat, acne and goose pimples Break out on my forehead and entire body, Sprouting like yam tendrils from the earth; meandering as water in rain gutter From a million hair follicles, Teasing my entire body And finally docking by hook or crook Like a boat at it's embedded tributary Between my negritude toes I google in consternation, bewilderment At your obstinate attempt As pestle on bits of grain in motar To pound a defiant, renegade earth Back against the wall in rope-a-dope To submission and surrender Powerful strokes of koboko whips Descending from heaven As plague upon pharaoh and his kinsmen, Drumming endlessly on thatch roofs And corrugated iron roofs alike Concocting rhythms more intoxicating And damning than heavy metal music Images of African women Resiliently scurrying, shuffling, Between thatch huts and drooling rain; Scuttling to retrieve rain water in pails And ebony children Drenched in rain like weather beaten bats Savoring every drop from the whinning sky Rain, I yearn for your spirit But dread your fiery, fury, Flash and flood Come rain, soak me in your mist; Drape me in your dew and moisture Rain, Your ghost evokes succor and misery!