All Things Must Pass

This poem was written by Annie Parmeter on 30 June 2003. It is a wonderful description of a thunderstorm, and despite the title, it is stormy weather which passes, and not the earth, which remains "as it ever was" after the storm has dissipated. It was written "for Dee", perhaps as a poem of hopefulness. There is a subtle reference to "Morning has Broken", for it is the blackbird who gives thanks after the storm has ended.

All Things Must Pass
 
At first a distant murmur
Then a rumble more insistent,
The first spits of rain
Issue warning to the window panes.
Then shattering the complacent air
A sickening violent crack of light,
The velvet-grey and indigo ripped apart
By a blinding bolt of phosphorus.
Wave after shock wave
Of deafening rolls of thunder.
Now comes the rain.
Clearwater torrents spilling over the gutters,
Without discrimination, without mercy,
Washing away all in its path.
The hands of the clouds descended
Once more to wipe the slate clean.
Little by little,
The thunder grows more distant,
The flashes have moved away,
Out over the sea now,
Content to dance above the waves
Weaving shimmering silver threads
On the purple curtain of rain.
The sky begins to lighten,
The persistent rainfall yields
To more intermittent drops,
And gradually fades away.
The breaking clouds roll back
Revealing islands of blue,
Windblown crimson poppies
Shake out their tousled skirts to dry.
The blackbird on the gable
Preens his ruffled feathers
Pausing for a moment to give thanks
With his heartfelt and joyful song.
The warm fingers of the sun's rays
Reach down to touch the moist loam,
The stones glinting and sparkling
In the everlasting light.
The nourished earth
Now gloriously revealed as it ever was,
Shining and new.