Before Rain

BEFORE RAIN

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Foreboding roamed the desolate streets

as if a wild animal had been cut loose,

country people talked of a strange storm,

a string quartet ran off the bandstand,

sixty-seven bikers turned into the square,

a woman flicked open a pink mirror.

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Frightened traders gave away shirts,

a forgotten language entered mouths,

dispatches were received from upwind,

somebody sang A Whiter Shade Of Pale,

Stravinsky swung a glass pickaxe in my head.

This happened one day before the sky opened.