After The Rain
The silence is only an illusion.
It’s just that we do not always hear
What is actually still there.
The echoes of the rain,
Stored in memory,
Play over again as the dripping remnants
Give a rhythmic tapping serenade.
The chaotic winds rise and fall as they cause
The rustling of leaves not yet fallen.
Outside my window,
The swishing hiss of passing cars,
Interrupts the silence briefly,
As they pass through the overflow,
Sliding along the rain-drenched streets.
The air is fresh and cool.
I breathe deeply and deliberately.
Sometimes the wind will gust just enough,
To move the air around my skin.
I always pause at that moment, if I can—
Embracing the opportunity to become
Completely present in that moment.
The pleasure is exponential when
The gift of a breeze is met
With gratitude and appreciation.
So it is with us.
We see our lives through a prism at times.
Everything looks distorted and chaotic
Through such a lens.
Particular aspects of our lives
Can also become clearer
In the swirling swishing of time.
But we have to keep our chins above water.
Relentlessly swimming through your life
Can only go on for so long,
Before we begin to question our methods.
We dread the rain when it comes without mercy;
Today the rains fell with a vengeance.
The deluge knocked the plants off the porch rail.
Even as I endured the worst of the storm;
I knew it could not last—this downpour.
But all the while, I feared it would outlast me.
I prayed that it would soon subside.
Life changes and is modified, moment to moment—
After several hours of relentless deluge,
The winds subsided and the rain lessened.
After the rain, what feels like silence reigns,
The forecast for tomorrow is
That it will be a lovely day; sunny and mild.
That’s what they always say.
© September 2021 by JJHIII
Hope you enjoyed reading my most recent poem. I’ve been working on a video series of short snips of different subjects to try out the visual arts capabilities of my computers and other devices. I am putting together a preliminary sneak preview of the most recent video-series-in-progress.
I know that trying to control every aspect of the presentation is a fool’s errand, but for the first few videos in the series, I wanted to keep it simple and figure out how to integrate any future skill with this in mind. I enjoyed the process immensely, and there are a few hilarious outtakes that will probably survive should that ever become something of interest.
For now, I am focused on reading, research, writing, conjuring, getting through things. There is so much good in the world, and not everything is about mainstream media either. Some of the best reading anywhere happens frequently here at WordPress.com. Hang on out there!
Kindest regards…John H.
John's Consciousness 
Lovely John. I took a breath with you.
What a lovely comment on my recent poetic offering! As I have aged I have become much more aware of the importance of truly living within the present moment, and occasionally pausing to really focus on even the simple act of breathing or to appreciate the life-giving ability to just breathe, and how it can inspire a much wider range of experience in a particular moment. I love trying to really bring my complete focus into a moment and look for a way to express as much as possible about it. We spend so much time these days in trivial pursuits that the beauty and wonder contained in the very moment we live can escape notice.
Thanks so much for noticing my post…John H.
It’s easy to admire John. Not many people I know have been lucky enough to fall onto the path I accidentally fell onto and finding contemporary writings that speak to it is amazing to me. I shall keep dropping in to drop out, as it were… for a little peace and quiet.