A memorable day

 
It rained, oh how it rained the day
the sleepy eyed, dreary bodied
slumber party huddled together on the sofa.

Tired out from a night of games,
a night of fun. A night cocooned
in their own world of videos, popcorn and crisps.

It rained all day, often so heavy that
the sky would crack apart and
some godly light would show through.

It rained so much that the storm drains burst
and I had to rev the car engine
really hard to get through the flood water.

I revved it hard but I did not go fast
No, I did not go fast
because of the water, from the rain.

And in the park we played with the dogs.
Marika and I played with Jazz and Kizzy
and splashed in the puddles.

While back at home the girls tried to take in
the day, as I was taking in the day
after a dark, dark night.

And the river had burst its banks and
was flooding the football pitch
and Jazzy lost his Frisbee in the smelly water.

How we laughed as we tried to find it!
We laughed so much that we almost forgot
and Marika got water in her wellingtons.

It rained so much I thought it might wash away
the vile memory of the night
when flesh and metal became one.

But it didn’t. Instead the sun came
out and dried up all the rain,
lifting the water back into the skies.

Geoff Berrow,
September 6th 1997

I'm sure I''ll never forget what I was doing the day I heard that Diana had died but I wrote this on the day of her funeral in case the memory should fade. It seemed uncanny to me that the we had a freak storm on that day - almost as if communal grief had affected the elements.