Vedriti

 

 

Vedriti, Slovenian: To shelter from the rain, waiting for the storm to pass

 

As grey clouds loom, I recollect

Of summer’s yesterday’s younger days

When I would always avoid the calming rains,

Or heady storms on monsoon ways

 

For, one kiss of summer’s moistness, and

I would surely catch another cold,

Sniffles, coughs, paracetamol

Countless cups of honey’s gold

 

Until one day, you mocked

You will fall ill in any case,

And I gave in to you, the evening rains

A Nor’wester grey on sultry days

 

And I walked for long, in grumbling skies

No umbrella for the day’s rescue

More meds, I grumbled deep within

Thanks for the silliness, to listen to you

 

Yet something changed, bedraggled me

In indigo skies, and purple lights,

No more colds or sapping coughs

The cure itself, the stormy nights

 

Malady, remedy, I do not know

All that I know is when it rains

Its best to keep your coat behind

And let the storm cleanse you of all your pains

 

Its not in the wait that the healing lies

The manna lies in the rains that freeze,

In the lightning bolts that kill the dark

And the moisture sea in the heady breeze

 

Would you be proud if I told today

Who’s afraid of a summer’s squall?

Rather, you wait for the sounds of a sudden storm

In Summer’s heat or a dying Fall

 

But knowing you, perhaps you will say

Despite the hairs, now silver old:

What of the storms we cannot see?

Do you walk through them just as bold?

 

Can you see their clouds, on empty skies?

Can you see through their rains, those purple lights?

I smile, and choose to walk along

Somewhere, the clouds still pour on summer’s nights

 

15^th March, 2025