Ashish Kumar

“A Short Story of Falling

It is the story of the falling rain
to turn into a leaf and fall again

it is the secret of a summer shower
to steal the light and hide it in a flower

and every flower a tiny tributary
that from the ground flows green and momentary

is one of water's wishes and this tale
hangs in a seed-head smaller than my thumbnail

if only I a passerby could pass
as clear as water through a plume of grass

to find the sunlight hidden at the tip
turning to seed a kind of lifting rain drip

then I might know like water how to balance
the weight of hope against the light of patience

water which is so raw so earthy-strong
and lurks in cast-iron tanks and leaks along

drawn under gravity towards my tongue
to cool and fill the pipe-work of this song

which is the story of the falling rain
that rises to the light and falls again”
― Alice Oswald, Falling Awake

“I pray that I can teach you that beauty is subjective;”
― Key Ballah, Preparing My Daughter For Rain

“A man’s memory might have only a hundred clear days in it and he has lived thousands. Can’t do much about that. We have our store of days and we spend them like forgetful drunkards.”
― Sebastian Barry, Days Without End

“When I have a daughter I will tell her
You grew between the cracks of my skin,
I built you, 
cell by cell, 
over nine full moons,
a flower grown from blood.
Somewhere in your beautiful mind lives the distant memory, of loving only the sound of my voice and the slow hammer of my heart,
you trusted me before you knew me.
So if you ever question your capability to love fully, remember you have loved before, and you will love again”
― Key Ballah, Preparing My Daughter For Rain