Rainsong

I hugged my pain again.
Again and again.
It threatened to break out
like raindrops in a rain cloud.
On the verge of the monsoon.
Finally it broke free.
In torrents.
Wave upon wave.
And yet the Earth broke out in laughter.
In perfume-scented song.
The air washed clean of the dust of the past.
Calm now and stillness.
And into this blessed silence,
the song-bird dropped note upon golden note,
of joy. Of hope, of gratefulness.
How odd that pain and joy always walk hand in hand.