The sound hits you first.

Tap tap on the walls and windows and ground

Each drop is an earthquake and a pat on the shoulder

Together a wall of water,

Like whispers in a crowded room that blend together into one

Soothing, tranquil buzz

Gurgle gurgle through the gutters

Incessant rhythmic melodic,

It drips and it gushes and it pounds until there is no sound in the world,

There never has been and never will be, any sound in the world

But the drumming of the rain.

 

Then comes the sight.

You walk to the window and see that the world has gone grey

Like an old black-and-white photograph

Or a sketch of the world

And yet, life is clearer, cleaner,

Every trembling leaf and crack in the sidewalk standing out in sharp relief

Clear-cut against the gray.

It's a beautiful gray, you think. A cleansing gray.

Everything glistens and the ground is in constant motion

As drops shatter the puddles into a frenzied boil

But what stillness there is reflects the grey of the sky

By the light that filters through the clouds as the sun is forgotten.

 

Feeling comes next.

You walk to the door and pull it open

And are met with a gust of cold

It's a damp kind of cold, the kind that truly sets you shivering,

The kind that invigorates and makes you think

The kind of cold that could be anywhere more exciting than where you are

The kind of cold that people discover things in.

A drop hits your skin and you shiver, but it feels pleasant, refreshing,

So you stick your hand out and catch another

Till you've forgotten what warmth is and why you ever wanted it in the first place

And your hands are outstretched, drop after drop splashing, rolling,

And your face is pointed up to the sky.

 

The smell hits you then.

You take a deep breath

And smell dirt and leaves and loam that make you want to go exploring

And water and wind that make you want to run and run

And it is freedom and joy and you twirl around as your hair gets soaked

And you laugh because it feels so good, so right

And you wish that you could keep on breathing and breathing

And never stop because it smells like life.