Born in the Great Depression, Pasquale Varallo quit school after eighth grade, joined the Army at 16, the Coast Guard at 19. He doesn’t like poetry if it isn’t understandable after 2 readings. He was widowed after 42 years of marriage to his beloved wife, with whom he had 4 children (and 3 grandchildren). He spends his time waiting for the eternal call. Pasquale’s poem Play Me a Sad Song was published as part of Contributor Series 9: If Men Had Ears in June 2011.
Rain
By Pasquale Varallo
By Pasquale Varallo
Sheer curtains dance
with the breeze,
the rise and fall of a
slow waltz, perhaps a
romantic bolero.
The sky is overcast
with light gray clouds
and the first soft drops
moisten the sill. No, she
says, leave it open.
Come back beside me,
hold me. We have
nothing to do. Rain is a
time lounging and
being with your love.
I was Ulysses; she was my
Siren. Had I been bound to
a mast it would not have
mattered. Hercules could
not have kept me from her
side.
I went and lay beside her.
Exposed to the elements,
unashamed, we were as
newborns, innocently
nurturing each other.
The day passed into
night. We slept to a soft
rain’s sweet sounds, the
soft, light pit-a-pat of
nature quenching thirsty
Earth.
We loved; we slept;
slept and loved again,
til dawn, in perfect union,
as man and woman may,
but as no others have.
This was ours, uniquely ours.
Rain is for lovers.
Dear Pasqual, This is an angel of a poem! Enchantedly, Clarissa
Lovely.
A very alive and real poem for me –
thank you!