The Tuesday the world changed for aardvarks
I never liked rain.
And today it raged.
Flooded into the sand that is our bed.
It drenched the warm corners
where I cuddle with Bert away from daylight.
The ants ran from it
and I was unable to resist the tickle
of their feet on my tongue.
A midday feast.
Today, the water coursed its way into our space.
We had to relocate to the bed of pine needles.
I never liked rain.
And today it raged.
There was shaking,
Like when children tap windows
to wake us in the day.
But this time we could not shake it off
and there were no smiling faces.
The floor moved,
where the sand was dry
it lifted, the skies shook
and there was a light greater
than that of day.
Blazes of pure power. Unsettling.
We don’t know if the world
will always contain
these blinding flashes now.
Will the land quake each hour?
We don’t know this world
but sleep still finds us.
On sodden sacking, we dream
of never-ending sand
where we don’t try to find the edges.
We sleep well.
Sarah L Dixon lives in Linthwaite, Huddersfield with her son, Frank (11). She loves being by and in water. Sarah has 3 chapbook length publications and tours as The Quiet Compere. Find out more here: http://thequietcompere.co.uk/