I Now Want to Leap Through the Rain and Fall into a Puddle - Kaleeyah Quinata

Dew settles on branches left fruitless,

And kisses beds of slumbering tulips,

But where is the storm?

I planned for what all the reports informed

Slipped on my slightly too large red rainboots

Trekked to the store to buy new green tea leafs

To see if they say what everyone else believes

Propitious promises crinkled and curled

Dancing at the bottom my old teacup

If there's a storm then I too can curl up

Make tea and witness the beauty of each drop

remonstrating the stillness of the earth

In a muddy rebirth

Weeks after tulips will begin to bloom

And old friends will gather for a picnic come noon

This dreadful drizzle has cancelled all

My plans but to no avail, no spring

Will come of this– making

Tea no longer feels right

So please, can it just downpour

Please, can the clouds rain hell

Onto me, Tear me to shreds

Leave me as a muddy puddle

Because only then

Can I be born again.

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Kaleeyah Quinata is a first-year economics student at the University of Virginia.