Up and Down Up and Down

 

 

Up and down,

Up and down,

Two, three, four, five,

And yet another around.

 

You may be wondering

What I am talking about,

It is today’s weather:

An intermittent waterspout.

 

You open the windows

And sit down for a while,

Then you have to close them-

It’s this yo-yo style.

 

Up and down,

Up and down,

Two, three, four, five, six…

Feeling like a clown.

 

Building muscular arms

Creating a six pack,

This rain keeps on stopping

And then coming back.

 

Taunting and teasing

Now for sixth time,

This intermittent waterspout

Messing with my mind.

 

Overcast skies

Promising much rain

But just falling and stopping

Again, and again.

 

Frustrating it is

And definitely giving me a fit,

On account of the rain

Just doing drip-drip.

 

Up and down,

Up and down,

Three, four, five, six, seven

Causing me to frown.

 

A drizzle at first

Then a sharp shower,

This intermittent waterspout

For more than an hour.

 

It’s battling two things:

Heat and Sahara dust,

And neither of them yielding

Is causing me a rush.

 

 

A rush from my chair

To close and then open,

This taunting weather today

Is causing me a problem.

 

I just sat back down

Having got up to close,

This might be the downfall-

But who really knows?

 

Up and down,

Up and down,

Could be about eight times-

My count is not sound.

 

This is the longest so far,

It has been falling a while

So, I will stop fretting myself

And light up with a smile.

 

I will say thank you Lord

For the rain and the sun

And for the up and down exercise-

I’ll treat it as fun.

 

Stewart Russell © July 3, 2023

 

No Complaining, Please

 

 

From a prolonged heat wave

To this everyday rain

But I’ll tell you what,

You won’t hear me complain.

 

From raging high temperatures

To temperate days

And the nights are beautiful

In so many ways.

 

Less electricity usage

For the fans there’s little need,

Please do not complain

That would be ungrateful indeed.

 

Complaints galore

During the time of the heat,

Now you are getting the rain

No complaints, I repeat.

 

 

It was becoming a problem

With water levels running low,

Some reservoirs were almost empty

So severe was the blow.

 

It was a terrible drought

And the vegetation was brown

With the farmers praying

For the rain to come down.

 

Well, come down it has

So, please do not complain,

I am over the moon in happiness

Since the coming of the rain.

 

I am still bareback

Although I don’t need to be,

The rains have come in

And I am in my glee.

 

  

No “Rain-rain go away

And come back another day”,

No! “Rain-rain stay with us,

It’s so much better this way”.

 

Fill up the aquifers

And all of the reservoirs

And if I hear any complaints

That will mean war.

 

I know that for some people

Complaining is a fashion

But let praise and thanks to God

Become our passion.

 

It is He that gave us the sun

And also the rain,

So bajans, wherever you are,

Please do not complain.

 

Stewart Russell © October 31, 2020