9 September 2025

not so foreign

as the sound
of hesitant rain
over the smell
of the sea

now i can write this
sixty years late
(nothing has changed
but the date

and increasing
disorder)
– do the sums
steam engine

the boy who
never understood
yet got the answers
right

the girl who
wet her pants
on
purpose

deniability
is the rain
the original rain
the first time i heard it

hesitant as the first sin
and then the downpour
i had learnt it
by heart