Rainy Season


In the rhythm of the seasons
when the music of the planet
is in tune with June’s fat moon,
what’s the melody you hear
if you take the time to listen?
The recurring refrain of the rain.

Though the sky may be duller,
the wetness brings out colour
here below,
and makes things glisten
if you take the time to look.

And the moisture is a balm
that bestows a sort of calm
and splendid generation
to all creatures here below,
a caressing penetration
that provides for things to grow.

The skin becomes more supple
the frogs come out and couple
while in darkness, shy fungus
proliferates among us.
Mildew plots insurgence
under every sink and cranny.
Laundry on the line stays clammy.
Light holds in diffusion,
Dampness in suffusion,
And photos stored in boxes
Undergo a fusion, needing
peeling from their wads.

We are forced to change our sunshine ways
beneath this sky that sheds itself
in a soft cloak of rain,
while thick air beckons us
to just go back to bed and sleep for days.

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Born in the US and educated all over the world, Sarah Venable has lived in the West Indies since 1992. This broad perspective influences her work as a writer, painter, tutor, and culinary creator. Her home is now Barbados. 

The bulk of her published work has been non-fiction, primarily in regional and Barbadian magazine such as Maco, Ins & Outs of Barbados, and various in-flight publications. Other work - namely poems and a wacky piece of short fiction - can be found in Poui, the Cave Hill Annual, and The Truth About Oranges, an anthology of NIFCA-winning work.

Meanwhile, working with children in the WISE (Writers in Schools and Education) programme gives her a pleasurable challenge which sometimes leaves her hoarse. 


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