Nature’s Tease

The sky was frosted

with gray and white icing.

Wind stirred the leaves,

Caused the pines to sway,

And churned the water in the nearby river.

In the distance,

Thunder suddenly rumbles

Like an empty stomach.

Here and there

People hasten off walkways and paths

As the thunder intensifies.

A crow caws.

Is it a warning to its companions

To take shelter too?

Will it really rain

Or just be another tease?

The ground,

Hard and brown

After weeks of rainless days,

Thirsts greedily for the sky’s life-giving liquid.

Another peal rolls overhead.

Closer.

Louder.

More prolonged,

Like the sound of many boulders being tossed down a hillside

And tumbling to a stop at the bottom.

Then drip.

Drop.

Patter.

Rain appears.

Is nature merely toying with us

Or will the heavens finally open up?

The leaves on the bush before me

Wiggle and shake in a happy jig

As drops plop upon their heads.

Slowly the sidewalk moistens

And the water paints the roadway

A deeper, darker black.

The air is perfumed

With a fresh, earthy scent

And tiny drops of water dot delicate flower petals.

Hopes rise for a long quaff

Of life restoring rain,

But the thunder has gone quiet,

The trees are still once more

And the river looks again like glass.

I shrug and sigh.

No rain today.

Quietly I slip

My dry umbrella back into its case.