Naweet Black clouds of sustenance Gather and loom overhead Lightning and thunder, messengers In tow, heralding what is about to follow “Mam Yalla sotil mbuse bi, gorgi tegal tama bi” Chant juveniles clad in nothing but loincloths, In anticipation of the impending downpour Hurrying footsteeps, racing home, Cursed at the impudence of a plastic flip-flop Daring to come undone at a time like this Farmes in the field praying to hoe one more lane Before the ‘taw’ Dance in a frenzy of movements Rumblings reverberated in the distance Quickening the steps of young mothers With babies strapped to their backs, Yanking dry boubous and pantaloons From the clothesline by the hand-fuls “Almost done, one more to grab” When the first cool droplets decided To moisten the rusty iron corrugated roofs The classic melody Of ‘piti pata, piti pata’ magnified By ‘celeingless’ houses Greeteed the senses Increasing in intensity With each and every bout of lightning Puddles form quickly Creating watery barriers between Na Mariama’s and Na Fanta’s Respective abodes, Strengthening the rivalries Between these two Co-wives Giggles and laughter following The antics of little feet Not hesitating to jump into Muddy pools of water Splashing unsupecting, grumpy, ‘tawtee’ victims Stray dogs race away in the rain In their eternal quest to evade the Bloated,lethagic flies That vehemently clung to Their ever juicy ears Promising to never let go Trees and parched grasslands Drink their fill of cloud juice, Swelling with satiation in the process Slowing to a drizzle, The barrage finally stops The earth saturated with energy Burst forth with seedlings Patches of plants germinates Bringing life The fragrance of Mother Nature Fills the air with a heady sensation Ants and termites scrruying To build new dwellings Flying insects in the pursuit of mates, Flew in droves For by the end of the day They will be lying wingless and dying With their eggs embedded in the soil Waiting for the next torrential rainfall To release them The seductive aroma of ‘Churayee’ Assails the nosetrils In an effort to smoke away insects And to entice ‘Nijaaye’ Freshness pervades the air As the sun in all its glory Cast tiny droplets of water Into a gigantic rainbow Promising ‘Domi Adama’ once again That never will there be Another flood in the magnitude of Noah's time. Send instant messages to your online friends http://uk.messenger.yahoo.com ¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤ To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html To Search in the Gambia-L archives, go to: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/CGI/wa.exe?S1=gambia-l To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to: [log in to unmask] ¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤