"The Rain" by Michelle Luo

Songs of Eretz Poetry Review is pleased to debut the poetry of Michelle Luo with “The Rain”.  Luo is a sophomore at Baruch College in New York City and student of Frequent Contributor James Frederick William Rowe.

The Rain

Michelle Luo

Droplets ripple through the tides of the silent pools

Rain pours down the city lights

We look up from the pond to face the stormy night

to see the stars hidden behind the facades.

Though there’s no light that slips through the sorrow night of the crying clouds of grey

The sky roars the tremor hidden deep inside our souls as we buckle to our knees

We look up once more to the stars that are searching for their way to our eyes

But we draw them shut before the twilight shows.

The wetness soaks us to our shoulders as we turn to grieve

To grieve for our own sorrows

To look back upon our regrets as the night draws into darkness

The clouds draw back, and the mist clears

Yet we still lay there

on our knees with tears trickling down our cheeks

We look upon the night sky wondering what we did wrong

and we realize that the night is just an illusion.

All that has passed and all that has been done 

have been wiped away clean by the rain

All the regret is buried as our tears penetrate the soil

We rise to our feet and look up to see the moon

free of the stars’ gaze as we walk down the flooded ground. 

We turn around to repent

but see nothing behind us but the smiles of our old memories.

Poet's Notes:  I believe that everyone has been through rough times in life. We all look back and wish we could turn back time and do things differently. Sadly, time does not stop, and we risk drawing further and further into sorrow until the day we learn to let the past go. 

In this poem, I try to create a tone of despair in the first stanza. I want to paint with words the feelings that one may experience.

The second stanza is the turning point of the poem, and there is a shift in the tone. From the feeling of despair, the speaker moves in to a state of recovery, and the tone slowly becomes more light-hearted. I would not say that the speaker is fully happy, but he or she feels relieved. It would be the same feeling as someone taking a breath of fresh air and taking the first initiative to see the world as somewhere he or she belongs again. 

This poem was inspired by my own feelings when my grandma passed away two years ago. Sometimes pain expressed in poetry seems so beautiful. It also makes it easier for us to express our emotions without being too blunt. 

Editor’s Note:  The water motif is expertly executed.  I especially enjoy the way Luo uses different forms of water (rain, pools, tears, floods) to create subtly different metaphors.  The mood she creates here, at once somber and hopeful, results in a nice emotional release for the reader--a thing for which most poets strive but few achieve.  The narrative is pleasant and easy to follow. 

It is a rare honor and privilege to debut a poet, and I am particularly pleased to be the first to publish the work of this up-and-coming young versifier.  I shall follow her career with great interest.