Those Rainy Days

Ah! The memories of those rainy days in my childhood,

When the racing hours stood still and stared into the past.

At those times when we bustled to gather around the firewood,

More to warm our senses and share tales till they would last.

A song sung in the bygone years escapes my lips,

When I hear the pitter-patter of rain on the roof.

Soft melodies sung with siblings to that incessant music,

Are now just mindful ringtones for which there’s no proof.

Those paper boats let out on holidays into dirty puddles,

Amidst fake admonitions from my endearing mother.

And then to see them through with friends I huddled,

It was my best race to victory; I haven’t seen another.

I hold onto my old raincoat, my shining armour in grim times,

A friend in thick and thin, guardian through the past years.

As I walk past the prayer houses and hear the old bells chime,

To my memory come those rainy days, I smile through tears.

The smell of wet grass and rain-soaked earth is with me,

But I yearn for a beautiful rainbow on the next sunny day.

Like the new song of the birds heard when the dark clouds flee,

I learned to accept that today is blessed by God in every way.

Srividya Subramanian