The Rain

from N.Y.C.E.P. by Kevin P. Gilday

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lyrics

The Rain

They weren't kidding

When it rains here
It rains

White water rapids threaten the sidewalk
A Hudson in miniature
Sweeping the remnants of a civilization
Out into the sea

The great rain,
As advertised
By deities
And Scorsese movies,
Does not disappoint

New York is overcome -
An industrial Venice
Framed in grey
The shattered corpses of umbrellas
Litter the streets
Sacrifices to the rain god
Duly ignored

Deference is not an option
The big man demands it -
Respect
Maybe this city has existed too long
In materialistic sin
And abject squalor
And now the time has come to wash it away

Not that anyone would notice
Natural disaster is no priority
Just another inconvenience,
The rain falls in vertical strips
Aqua sheets that explode on impact,
But the city ticks on
Oblivious to laden plans
To render that famous skyline
As a future Atlantis

Imagine Williamsburg uncovered
Years from now unearthed
Ancestors attempting to make sense
Of retro arcade machines and Taco trucks
Of ironic t-shirts and skinny jeans
As moustache wax floats to the surface

The rain penetrates the hostel ceiling
Forming weary New Yorker stalactites
Who throw themselves to the ground
Like that Astoria drunk
Or unwanted souvenirs

We surrender ourselves to the storm
No part of our bodies remain untouched
By the sodden hands of this city
The only thing left to do is embrace it
Enjoy this damp grope
This seeping molestation
As a shared experience
As a future story
As an embryonic poem

The midtown streets are augmented
By floods of water
And rivers of people
Jostling to reach shelter
While we stand, alone amongst them
Soaking in every fume
And praying we don't drown