The Big Rains

The Big Rains

By Mabel Burton

Suddenly,
Eucalyptus trees
Around me
Flashing, dipping, dancing,
Thrashing me;

A cacophony of sound
Envelops me;
The winds come screaming
Frightening me,
The rushing, roaring rains in torrents
Beating me.

Scimitars of light rend dark skies
Blinding me;
Thunderous, ear-splitting blasts join the
Symphony.
Nerves stretched taut, my soul cries out
In agony.

Then, as suddenly
It seems an angel of light appears
Accusingly,
And, at the sight, all sound flees and instead
Of fury,
A gentle quiet reigns, light floods the sodden earth
Shiningly,
And all is peace again. 

Ethiopia Observer, vol.13 (1970), n.1, p.36
Mabel Burton, a British teacher, taught shorthand at
The Addis Ababa Commercial School in the early 1960s.