A Rendezvous with Rain on the Paris Road

A Rendezvous with Rain on the Paris Road*

Ahsan Habib

20th June 2013

(Dedicated to all my friends who went out in the rain last Wednesday)

Tears bucketing down from the heaven,

Liven up the leaves that looked lifeless for long,

But now they dance in rain-drenched joy;

Intone the immortal song

That caters to the thirst of ageless men—

Ending the aimless wander of dust,

They bath the parched earth,

That lapsed into a scorched silence—

Now waking up betokens a new birth,

With rain marrying up the wind blowing in gusts.

The Paris Road with all her trees

Is too dancing and singing in the shower;

Some wild souls roaming on her bosom

Remind me of the old road,

And the rainy hour—

Of the ones, now inhabitants of eternity,

That once roamed here, drenched in rain—

Or were lying on the road,

Staring at the tall trees,

To capture the moments into the frame of mind.

Stopping my aimless walk somewhere on the road

I stand looking at the dancing leaves with my still eye—

In the next rain new leaves will supplant the old

That will dry up and die,

And the branches will continue to sway—

Amidst such thoughts I see in the distance

A throng singing some untuned song,

And jumping up and down with sheer joy!

Reveling in the rainy rapture,

On the Paris Road I again begin to wander.

[*The Paris Road is a road with tall trees on either side on our University campus]