an opaque afternoon
stratocumulus opacus
a thin film
of rain
is falling
curls
of mist
between folds
of hilled forests
are rising
a bedraggled
black drongo
perches
on a patient
branch
nine spotted doves
on an electric wire
wait
wet
an independent
stork
in white flight
over green paddy
glides under
a treetop
the sodden
cattle
crop
the sodden
grass
the syllabled rain
gives language
to leaves
a somniferous
susurrus
the chengi river
enthused
with rain
muddies
and eddies
no urchins fish
with outsize nets
no flash
of white
announces
a maturer hand
the parenthetic
ferry boat
has long ago
oared its
last passenger
from shore to shore
yesterday's fire
that felt
like heaven's ire
dissolves
in rain
and the pyre
loses its focus
behind
stratocumulus
opacus