by Roya Hakakian
Why does the cloud rain?
Possibility one:
It is what the cloud does
It cannot help itself
Water amasses
And the cloud's memory
Is gorged with the urge to flow
The Earth
Must not assume itself culprit
For the generous showers
Why does the cloud rain?
Possibility two:
It is the verdant Earth
Lush with thirst
Beneath
That summons the wind
To murmur its seductive invitation
To the cloud
Otherwise, the cloud
Being aloft
Would have little to do
with what is low
Why does the cloud rain?
Possibility three:
The cloud lives for the Earth
It spends every moment
Contemplating water
To appease the Earth
But the cloud
is
after all
A cloud
And by nature
.................Capricious
At times lean
At times withholding of its fluid affection
And always on the move
But the Earth
Being the grounded lover
Is dormant with greater longings
For endless waters.
Photo Credit: Storm Clouds Waiting, Tao, Digital Image, 2012.