Petrichor by Kieri Keys ’24

It’s raining today

I hear the taps against the window

I’m warm inside, it’s safe inside

I twist a strand of hair between my finger and my thumb

It wrings out sap, a golden dew

It tastes sweet like summer, new like spring

Outside the world is dark and damp

My hair is dry and I glow warm

I love the rain

I love looking at the rain, and hearing the rain

But I am scared of the drops against my skin

I drink water, I bathe in water, I need water to survive

But when it falls from the sky I am afraid

Where did it come from? 

Who else reached towards the sky and caught a drink on their lips?

Who else cried with the rain and tainted its salinity?  

Who else screamed over thunder only Zeus could hear?

How do I know it won’t tell my secrets?

My hair is wet

It drips with oil, black and thick

Bitter like winter, dead like fall 

The storm is gone, but I’m still making rain

I’m striking out and catching fire 

The storm is gone, but I turn to the sky and watch the clouds

I don’t want to need the rain

If I could grow on my own I would

Some people stand on the shoulders of giants

Some people make cities from their tears

Which am I?

I touch my hair– it turns to dust

There’s no summer fall spring winter or in between

I have nothing to give and nowhere to go

I don’t remember the rain, and it doesn’t remember me 

Rain pours when there’s too much rain to handle 

It falls when it falls apart

Let me drown in the puddles 

Let me grow on my own

Before the world and all its raining stops.

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