Tropical Recollection

Large raindrops fall
Softly from the sky. Their
Dappled rhythm slaps
Broad green tropical leaves.
I remember it now.
Dawn not yet broken, the
Looming clouds silently hold back the
Sun. Just a little longer, before
Cool rain turns to dripping steam.
Fern, mangrove and palm
Soak up the temperate reprieve.
Queensland comes rushing back.

This one was written at Brisbane Airport in September 2001, about a week after the 9/11 hijackings. I’d just arrived from the US after being away since May 1999 and was heading up to Cairns to surprise my mum for her 60th birthday. She didn’t even know I was in the country, so it was a pretty big surprise :) That’s got not much to do with the poem though. I was standing outside the domestic terminal next to the taxi rank, looking at palms and wet, luscious grass. I don’t think I’d seen so much green in all my time in Iowa.
What’s with all the poems?