Streams of Rain

The sun was shining for so long
The memories of the last rain storm faded from memory
Until one day on the horizon
The dark clouds finally re-appeared

When the clouds first began to crack
The departing droplets formed but a mist
Some locations were dampened
But most remained dry

Like a slowly accelerating locomotive
Gaining speed after being planted in one place
Or a snowball rolling down a hillside and gaining size along the way
The mist forming droplets turned to pellets of water.

The thick clouds continued to expand and darken
Releasing the rain as a dump truck discharging its load
Or a river pouring its contents over a cliff
Until the land was soaked

When the sponge of the rain soaked land could hold no more
The water flowed from one area to the next to the next
The dry land falling like dominos until the entire earth was wet
No portion remained dry

The fields ceased to produced
The fieldworkers were without food
The storage shelves became empty
The people grew hungry.

The fear grew uncontrollably
Like a weed multiplying without end
Until the growth threatens to rob life from the garden
Until the fear overcomes the ability to exist

But weeds can be removed and the garden can thrive
And so the rain will slow until it falls no more
And the clouds will fade revealing pure blue sky and the glorious sun
Warming the earth and drying the land

Until the life that had hidden in the saturated earth
Absorbed the warmth of the sun and the nutrients of the soil
and the seeds became shoots reaching toward the sky
To become nourishing plants to sustain the people.

The fields once again produced
The fieldworkers once again had food
The storage shelves became full
The people were no longer hungry.

And as the people became satiated with food and drink
And the wealth of the garden of the world
The memory of the rain, the flood, the hunger and the fear
Faded into nothingness

The people returned to the days before the flood without memory
Without preparing for the inevitable return of the storm
Without an understanding to the cycle of the life of the earth
Without thoughts of the lessons to be learned - the preparations to be made

But there were some who would not allow the children to grow
Without the knowledge that could ease their pain during the next flood
The teachers of the new generation
The tenders of the earthly garden and the garden of lives.