Draft in the author’s style. This poem was written for Poet of Rain & Harvest to sit beside the author’s own readings, and is waiting for the author’s review. The commentary is a working draft too.
The storm had roared all morning, and the river rose in rage,
And the lightning wrote its fury on the dark and heaving stage.
The farmers watched their fields in fear, and the children hid in beds,
And the wind tore off the shutters and the thatch from the roof-heads.
But by the noon the clouds were thinning, and a shaft of sunlight fell,
And the last rain drops were sparkling in a bright and glimmering spell.
Then the rainbow rose in colours over the meadow and the hill,
Red and orange, gold and green, and violet, calm and still.
It stood like a great bridge to heaven, curved over the village crest,
And the people came out singing, for they felt at last at rest.
For after every tempest, there's a promise in the sky,
That the darkest hour is over when the clouds begin to fly.
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Commentary
A rainbow is the sky’s way of saying the storm is over. This poem sets a furious morning against a peaceful noon and ends with a promise.
“The storm had roared all morning, and the river rose in rage.” “The farmers watched their fields in fear,” and “the wind tore off the shutters.” But “by the noon the clouds were thinning, and a shaft of sunlight fell.”
“Then the rainbow rose in colours over the meadow and the hill, red and orange, gold and green, and violet, calm and still.” It stands “like a great bridge to heaven,” and “the people came out singing.” The poem ends: “after every tempest, there’s a promise in the sky.”