Poems by
Juanita Newnes

Solitude

a poem by Juanita Newnes

A thundering sound
Assaults us in waves
As it descends the hill…
My heart stopped long ago,
Lost in God’s final treachery,
So I hear nothing else
But the wind
And the deafeningly loud sound
As it approaches slowly.
And suddenly, the rain pours.

It’s March in Kodaikanal
And the pine trees are dripping.
The football field is flooded
While I’m on the phone
With someone
Who can never mean anything to me,
And yet does;
Oh so much!
And outside the rain pours…

It’s March in Kodaikanal,
Everything ends soon.
School closes
And everyone goes home.
Love affairs are broken up
And future prospects lined up
For the new term.
Old loves are lost
Because newer ones neckon
And someone is always hurt;
Someone has to cry;
As I will soon do
While the rain pours outside.

It’s March in Kodaikanal…
My tears are like the rain
And so I step outside
Into the cold and the mist
And feel tiny beads
Solidify on my cheeks
And soon they lose
All sensation
Like my hands and feet,
And heart.
I ache inside
Because I now know
The thing I want most
Will never be
And the rain pours down on me…

It’s March in Kodaikanal
And I’ve just been asked
To be somebody’s valentine,
And know I cannot
Although I want to;
Because we’ve been doomed
And life cannot wait
For the two of us.
And ironically,
Neither can age.

It’s March in Kodaikanal
And the only thing
That pours down
Is rain, rain, rain!