Looking at the Downpour

Calmkate posted a blogging challenge using the word “downpour” and I thought perhaps my muse would be intrigued enough to wake up and contribute. I was wrong. So I did what I had to do, I pulled her from the warmth under the covers. She put up a good fight but I had a firm grip on her ankle and was tickling the bottom of her foot. After much thrashing, she emerged grumpy and sullen. Forgive this entry as she is clearly having a temper.

Grey sky pressure builds
The wind pushes clouds through skies
Flips leaves upside down
Makes flags snap and flagpoles hum
I cast eyes upward
The sun blinks behind the clouds
Kites are pulled to ground
Mothers call their children home
Bring in the laundry
The air holds the taste of rain
And the sky glowers
A foreboding hangs heavy
A storm is brewing
Radio crackles warning
Severe thunderstorm
We wait with sinus headaches
Throbbing pressure builds
As the barometer drops
Sudden thunderclap
Lightning races between clouds
Wind gusts batter doors
Cherry blossoms stripped from trees
Lightning stabs the earth
Makes dogs bark and babies cry
The day becomes dusk
I walk faster toward shelter
My hair whips my face
The wind pushes and pulls me
Pebbles pelt my legs
A drop of rain hits my cheek
Too late caught in a downpour

This is a Chōka, a popular type of Japanese court poem in the 6th – 14th centuries. It consists of alternating lines of 5 and 7 syllables with an extra 7 syllable line at the conclusion. There is of course no required rhyme or meter, as this is strictly a syllabic form. There can be any number of lines…