The First Drop of Monsoon Rain
They wait for the rain
Looking up through hats
Crisp shorts crack underneath soaked tops
A yelp of mother and
Flip-flops drag them back indoor
Sun blows fire like a dragon and mocks
Wind takes a different turn and mock back
Stifling sun confederate the clouds with the wind
Eagles, co-conspiring the gurgling whisked quilts,
Circle, float and shove the sun further behind.
Flip-flops return running with whoops and hollers
Mirroring eagles on top.
Tops taken off and shorts still linger
Ready to be doused and soused in rain
Warming up just before the final match
The stage is all set for the first pour of monsoon,
Whisper the leaves as clouds approaching spread dark
Pungent is the whiff of karri seasoned with dry dust pepper
Eyes of mother keep shifting from laptop screen to window
As often as the Clouds bang, hardly heard amid screams
Finally, the clouds hug tight, hold hands
Kiss both ears until are torn apart by wind
Wind cheats and sun peeks-a-boo.
Flip-flops halt, squint at the mocking sun
They mock the sun back.
Resolute, tops still down,
One jumps into the puddle and it splash
Boys kick ball and puddle in turns
Prance bundle of laughs, scream and scamper
Snatching turns, kicking the ball.
Sufia Humayun is an academic and a published writer. Her short stories, research paper and poetry has been published on different webzines and journals. Her published works include, The List in the Brain, Escapade, The Lahore Canal Bank Road and Exploring
Objectification and Self-Objectification of Women in Rizwan Akhtar’s Lahore I am Coming. She is a Ph.D scholar in University of Kent, UK. Her areas of interests are feminism and passive narratives, diaspora gaze and women writings, occidental gaze and veil.