21st October 2023

 

storm Babel

never-ceasing rain

flooded Chesterfield

© Rachel Green October 2023

there was a storm like this when I was a kid;

all the electricity for street

went out for a few hours

and we fetched candles from the pantry.

There weren't enough candlesticks

so I ran out to the hut - 

a dilapidated cottage where my aunt used to live - 

to fetch margarine tub lids

(we couldn't afford butter)

and slipped and fell,

cracking my head on the pavement,

experiencing delirium for the first time

to the terror of my babysitting sister.

© Rachel Green October 2023