This column by Tom Radzienda, an instructor in poetry and culture at Srinakharinwirot University, aims to encourage your interest and develop your skill in creating poetry. Poetry is a combination of visualisation, observation, imagination and creative use of language. Discover your poetic side, too!

Brave the rain and drink it when it comes Most of the time people avoid the rain as if it’s some kind of terrible disease. We always see people running away, hiding, and even cursing the rain. To experience rain poetically requires a fresh perspective that develops a new appreciation for rain. Read all of the questions below to prepare for your interview with the rain. Afterwards, you can dry off and write your poem. Meet the rain Be brave! Go out in the rain and pretend it’s the first time you’ve ever felt rain. This should inspire wonder and surprise at this strange event. First, choose or create a new word for "rain" to emphasise the newness and novelty of the experience. Look up to the sky and ask yourself several questions. What is it called? Where does it come from? Who created it? What causes it to fall? How does it feel on your face and head? Let the rain fall freely on you and feel the gentle chill of each drop. Imagine that each drop is alive and is kissing you. What are the secrets of the rain? Continue to stand in the rain until you understand its mystery. Sound and light show Listen to each drop of rain as it lands. Observe how each drop has a unique sound depending on its size and where it lands. Also look at the effect of rain on the light. This is difficult because you only have a moment to see it falling, then it disappears. Try answering each of the following questions with a poetic answer. Observation questions Poetic answers How does rain sound when it hits the street? The rain drives down the street What melody do you hear as raindrops strike a puddle? The rain is a chorus across the puddle How does rain sound when it lands on the grass? The rain … What colour is a raindrop? A raindrop is … Why is the sky changing colour? Because … Taste and smell show Now it’s time to drink the rain. The taste should be a strange new sensation. To describe this event, it is helpful to make comparisons with familiar things. For this case, using simile is very useful. A simile compares two different things that share some common trait. See the following examples, and then create several similes of your own. Use simile to create a description that reveals the source, taste and smell of the rain. For example: 1. Raindrops are like the tears of lost angels 2. 3. The rain tastes like the first lick of clear ice cream 4. 5. The rain smells as fresh as an innocent morning 6. Language play It’s as much fun to play with rain, as it is to play with language. Try substituting the word "rain" in ordinary sentences and see what kind of new feelings you can create. Look at the following examples and add your own. 1. I rain you. 5. 2. 6. I see the rain in your eyes. 3. 7. 4. We met at the rain shop. 8. Dry off and write Before you get too wet, it is advisable to go inside, dry off, and begin sketching your poem. Stay near a window so that you can see and hear the rain clearly and keep it fresh in your imagination. A hot cup of tea is also recommended. The task is to assemble all of the above observations and comparisons into a complete poem. Imagine that you are the first and only person to experience this strange incident. How will you describe it to non-believers? How can you persuade your reader of the meaning of the rain experience? Make your poem so real that the reader can feel the raindrops all around. Rain: A self portrait Here is a sample poem written at Koh Lanta that respects rain in a new way. If rain could look into mirrors and see The wetness on the folding petals More than cheer would bring you home Rain is different, yet never naïve To the flood which rain convenes Which sweeps your clutter to the sea Is rain so ugly that you hide from its face Or pain, stronger that you run inside Is rain such a spoiler of your sport? Doesn’t rain clear your petals from tip to stem Wash your faces and windows and smile Doesn’t rain love you enough to say? Can rain befriend a sunny beach And rainbow in harmony Or must you shelter from such pleasure? What truth can rain know beyond spring? For rain reflects in puddles Only what it seeks to believe in rainself Rain leaves a legacy of mud and erosion Of tossed ships and sweet mangoes Under monsoon skies Rain takes pride in being your holiday You can send your poem by email. Mark the subject line: Poet Tree and send to this address: learningpost@bangkokpost.co.th Visit Tom's poetry column at http://www.bangkokpost.com/poetry

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Last modified: April 4, 2003