4.10.11

Dry For Too Long

There's a weird backward magnetism to rain. It draws everything in and away. I'm looking out at the petals of rain, drumming against my windows on the 4th floor of 해서 Elementary, and I can't help but think that the world within has become enchanted for the disturbance outside.

Colors seem brighter.

Noises louder.

I can hear the students talking as they trample carelessly by my door. They used to speak only as an exotic fog to which I had no clarity.

These days, it seems as though everything is coming into focus.

Took long enough.

Seems like it took just long enough.

The cold air draws the skin tight against my body, and the wind carries with it the scent of air that stood dry for too long. It smells warm.

It will be Halloween. Then Thanksgiving, and then Christmas, but before that, I am going to see home again.

It's such a strange word, in a strange world, and I've been looking for it for longer than I should. It bares teeth, deep down in my soul, and I would fight to keep it alive. I don't now think that I would fit into the shape I held when I was near it. My body is swolen, soaked with a foriegn rain. My actions have accents that are drawn more from love than clarity. Will home take me back? Does love endure all things? Will the prophet find honor in his own town? Have I been struck by something otherworldly, and if she smiles back, should I chase her?

Come away with me.

I came into this world limping so that I could earn the right to run.

4 comments:

titancia said...

The rain always makes me feel like I'm living in a fairytale. A rather ordinary fairytale, but one that has the essence of "anything can happen" just the same.

cheburashka said...

Whenever it rains, I feel like I can almost smell that "foreign rain" that I feel bad calling foreign.. because that's the one I fell in love with first.

It's raining here too. Miss you, Stephen.

Jensen said...

So I was teaching in a jr. high class yesterday and the teacher has a "drama bear."

The drama bear is a stuffed bear that a student can grab on their way into class and take to sit with outside for a few minutes until they feel like being a part of class.

It is a brilliant concept for anyone who knows how ridiculous Jr. High students can be when it comes to drama.

Anyhow, I had a student come up to me and ask if she could use the drama bear because she felt lonely. As I said "sure" and I laughed inside and thought of your nickname "lonely bear."

If I ever get my own classroom, I'm going to have a drama bear and perhaps even a lonely bear!

LonelyBear said...

If your school district ever has a position open for a lonely bear, please let me know :)