Rain Days

Millicent Graham
Jamaica



I watched with weightlessness little ones
bursting puddles as they pushed
off with naked soles against the wet
road, chasing shoes! The gutters broke;
torrents usurped their leather boats.

The streets were patent where wiggled once
the toes of sodden girls with tunic hems
hoisted to expose clear beads in mid-swell.
I was heavy, too heavy for rain jewels.

My mother said, “Tie yuh shoes-lace,
mind cloud-water pools, know only the dry.”
Not this ache for rain days

Now, regret like ring worm
blueing and young limes cannot heal;
these feet that restrained the heart
and kept me raw, far from the damp in things.



(Este poema pertenece al libro
The Damp in Things, publicado por Peepal Tree Press)