Friday 4 November 2011

Rain haibun

Six thirty in the morning. Marching grimly through the dark and rain the mile to the 37 bus-stop, on my way to see the shrink before I go to work. Damp, bleary thought: will I shrink in the wash? Mute incantation against those paroxysms of rain that get under your waterproof, umbrella and boots - I can't go home and change for thirteen hours, you know!

It was a warm night and I slept with the window cracked open, waking from weird dreams and each time lulled to sleep again by steady drumming and splashing.

These past few months of getting up at six on Fridays have been... different. A early-morning world I've never been familiar with. Closer to the earth, out here before the city mayhem gets going. Closer to the air and breeze and slowly growing light. This is the first time in heavy rain. Stride out, then. Oh, but here beneath the Linden trees the footpath is all slimy leaves!

Made it to the shelter of the covered bus-stop. Shaking my umbrella and my wetter sleeve, the left one. My trouser-legs are soaked and steaming - ugh! The water falling in sporadic sheets from shelter roof to ground, pooling and gurgling round my feet. There's not much traffic; waiting in the quiet and wet.

the rain whispers
damp little words
like trickle and drip


(bear with me - first attempt at haibun. haiku written a while ago for TRAIL MIX)

6 comments:

Les said...

Ah, making poetry out of misery, isn't that what it's all about?! I'm glad to read your writing here, Jean, in addition to your wonderful photos. Maybe that opening in the future is inspiring you? That and NaBloPoMo. Fulfilling this commitment to writing (or at least posting) every day this month I'm finding surprisingly inspiring. I think I'd forgotten how much I enjoyed it. But then it's only Day 4... :-)

K. Brobeck said...

Very vivid. Nice capture of that early a.m. rainy feeling.

earlybird said...

I love this idea 'will I shrink in the wash?'

Enjoyed the haibun (a word I had to 'google'...)

Beth said...

Oh, but Jean, I liked your haibun very much! And am loooking forward to reading your posts every day this month - I hope it will prove to be more of a pleasure than a chore.

alembic said...

Yes, as Beth already said, I hope this will be more of pleasure for you than a chore. I love the haibun - and I felt the misery of rain, its surprising claustrophobia.

Jean said...

Well, I wouldn't do it if it wasn't a pleasure - It's nearly everything else that's a chore :-)