
A car navigates its way through the floodwaters of Mont Fleuri, one of the busiest districts in the capital city of Victoria, Mahe on Saturday evening (Derrick Young Khon, Pure FM Seychelles)
A New Year ’s Day trip to an artist’s studio-cum-café on Praslin, Seychelles saw us waiting at a bus stop when the monsoon started in earnest. Machine gun bullets rained down on us in our shorts, tee shirts and flip-flops. So what, we grinned cheerfully, it was a nice warm drenching.
The bus gave up when the flood reached the top of the tyres, so we got off and trudged through near waist-high water to the café. Power was off – not unusual – so having admired all the artwork, we waited, steaming slightly, while lunch was improvised. I was not popular when I sat down at the out-of-tune piano and played Chopin’s Raindrop Prelude.
We had to catch the plane back to Mahé in time for work next day, so we decided to walk the few miles to the airstrip via the driest place on the island – the beach. We found the airport seething with passengers waiting for the flood to subside so aircraft could land. Eventually the sky cleared, a plane came to shuttle the stranded passengers. Home and dry.
Warm rain teems, in
machine gun paradiddle –
fills every hollow
I love the way you brought music to your haibun!
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poetry and music are inseparable for me
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🙂
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Ha.. this reminds me of the
rain of Für Elise.. the only
Piano SonG for years
i kNew by heARt..
and ha!.. no
surprise some
complaints are
hEaRd.. i didn’t
play it the way
it is ‘supposed’ to be pLaYeD..
but eventuAlly the fAct i never
memorized another SonG and
never played this one by the
rules helped me to
compose my
own
piano
SonG
aS onE
Never dONe..
beFore.. and sUre
i carry on that tradition
noW iN the longest long
form poem ever.. approaching
4 million words of which this
micro verse inspired by you
will be a pArt of A 679th
macro verse tHeRe..
my FriEnd Viv..
so thanks..
as alWays
for the continuing
inSpiRaTioN oW..
HeHex1..
not everyone
plays the sAMe..;)
x2.. i am no Monsoon
i aM a
Human Word tSunAmi..;)
And copy and pastex3..
saveS iT aLL no matter
whaT.. iF some cannot stand
the size oF iT aLL.. NoW.. iN 4th line 3rd Fredku.. too..;)
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I love that unpopular piano moment, especially. 😉
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What a story. My favorite part was you at the piano–that had to draw a few dirty looks. Oh, the things we were able to deal with when we were young!
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Young? My late 50s!
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A well-crafted journey, Viv! And “machine gun paradiddle –” is outstanding!
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Hooray for the Raindrop Prelude – the paradiddle. What an outstanding word. And indeed, much better when it is over. There is no Japanese word for monsoon for they don’t have them but so glad you went ahead and wrote of this monsoon. What an experience!
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Thank you.
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a monsoon is motion as so much movement in this poem – that paradiddle did it for me!
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I had to laugh at your choice of piano music! You seem to have coped very well with this adventure. You brought it all to life for me.
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I smiled at the Chopins’ Raindrop Prelude….And such a wonderful haiku at the end!
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What a huge amount of rain. I can’t even imagine it. Love that you st and played the Raindrop Prlude. I would have laughed aloud and cheered you on!
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Seriously – a Seychelles-themed collection.
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I have the bones of one.
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Excellent news!
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Fun post, and very impressive photo, Viv!
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I love the fact that heavy rain and an overcast sky need not automatically mean cold and miserable!
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I think a tropical storm with a happy and dry end would be a great experience…and yes I do recognize the feeling of the beach being the driest part in the rain… I think this is one of those event where it feels better afterwards….
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I remember my first tropic storm. So exciting. I’d never seen or felt anything like it.
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How lovely that you sat down at the out-of-tune piano and played Chopin’s Raindrop Prelude.. such a perfect afternoon, despite the floods!!
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