Drinking Rain
written by: Aurora Kastanias
My dear fish, did the blue tang tell you the news?
They told me I should quit drinking, rain. They say,
it is poisonous and might kill me, and apparently
your waters might kill you too.
Remember the days?
Mouths agape to the sky we used to
stick our tongues out and swallow
falling droplets, light-heartedly
not a worry in the world?
Just you and me and vastness,
an endless expanse of beauty galore?
I hear humans talk, about the weather,
the sun is shining, far too brightly, rains
are pouring, far too heavily, swamping
villages and islands, burying bodies,
the winds are gushing, sweeping trees and homes,
twirling and lashing I do not truly comprehend
the difference between tornadoes and twisters
cyclones, hurricanes, and typhoons,
yet it seems, they bring no good news.
Wildfires enhanced, by heat waves and droughts
eat forests, and humans, flicking cigarettes blame
them on the climate, I do not know if that is the reason
they are cutting the forests and jungles down,
they raze them to the ground, call it deforestation
and by all means they are creating deserts, farmers
cry over lost crops, people are starving, bees
are going insane, human population reached eight billion,
they say temperatures are rising, air is unbreathable,
icecaps are melting, coral reefs are disappearing,
and nature is dying, tout court. They are afraid
they may run out of space, and in space
they are looking for new homes, sending rockets
up that scream like monsters, everyone is rushing,
you will not believe the chaos I am witnessing,
the depression, on everyone’s face, the anxiety,
animals are keeping their distance appalled
by what humanity is doing to itself.
My dear fish, I miss you so very much, hope
you are navigating tranquil waters, though
your silence scares me, hope
you have not been caught in nets nor poisoned
by mercury nor choked on plastic.
While studying for my BA in Business Administration, at an American University in Rome, I further got enchanted by 19th century existential authors as well as European ‘absurdism’ and the Theatre of the Absurd.
It was only after my MBA that I started writing more seriously, giving space to my true passions. In recent years I have written two existential novels in Italian. In recent months I have started studing astrophysics and writing poems in english, which finally brings me here.
- Drinking Rain - April 30, 2025
- Agnolalliv - February 12, 2025
- Come Back To Me - November 12, 2024
