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Oh rain, fall as you will

Children shall run, as you strip their hair

Oh rain, pound as you go

Emanate sounds of peaceful sleep

Do not listen to them, you are the essence of life

Along with a little sadness, you give it all

You plummet, and struggle through Hell itself

Reaching purity in Heaven

To fall again

All this for what?

For us

Your tantrums might drown homes

Your obsession with earth might bury islands

Yet without you, we are nothing

Go in content, as your intentions are known

Oh rain, please stop falling now

The bird must feed its little one

Oh rain, go away now

Come again, when you’re needed once more

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On my explorative walk through in the pouring rain,  I noticed an immediate sense of isolation.  As I walked around the park, I stood still for a moment, and observed this school playground. Where laughter would fill the entire basketball court, where screams would arise as children slid down the slides playing tag, today was silent. I could not help but wonder why this is so. I can feel the emptiness and sadness the rain has brought, yet I don't believe this was its intention. I felt a sense of guilt. I wanted to go on the slides, I wanted to dunk a basketball through the low hoops, just to tell the rain that it's okay, even if everyone hides from you, there are beings who appreciate you and love you for what you do for the earth.

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Seeing this crow hiding from the rain, this is a prime example of how living beings instinctively seek shelter from the rain. Looking closely, I noticed the dampness of his feathers. While his body stood completely still, his head moved around with sudden jerks and flicks with his neck, as if he was shouting vile words furiously at the pouring rain. This continued for a while, but then he set his gaze somewhere, as if he finally found a better and safer place than this branch on the tree. For five seconds, he froze, as if he was taking a deep breath, preparing to enter the dangerous environment once more. Then he took flight.

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During the pouring rain, as I wandered through my neighborhood, actively looking for things that are positively affected by the rain. I could not help but notice these maple leaves, and how they desperately clung on to the droplets of rain. Acer palmatum, also known as 'Ōsakazuki', I believe they were, which is a type of maple tree native to Japan. They travelled across the world to a foreign environment, where everything is different. I would like to think that the rain can bring along a feeling of home, allowing them to once again be at peace.

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I placed a small shot glass outside in the pouring rain. My goal here was to collect a small amount of rainwater, and closely study it. To my surprise, it looks and tastes exactly like water. What? How could this be? The dangerous droplets that my mom always told me to stay away from. “Don’t let it touch your hair” she said, “or you will lose them.” With a small amount of water in another shot glass, I tilted them both, hoping to see a difference in viscosity between the two liquids.. Yet still, I cannot tell them apart.

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On a Friday, I walked across campus to CRWR class in the pouring rain. This memory appeared in my field journal. On the same day that we read the poem “Fall Song” by Joy Harjo, I underlined the line “The earth is slightly damp with rain.” Inspired by this line, I wrote a poem about late summer, and how the heavy rain that day signified the end of the sunny season. In my poem, I observed that I often described the rain as something cynical: “leaves … that fall to the ground are powerless as they become incapacitated by the rain.”

This piqued my interest, as the presence of rain is often used to exaggerate sadness and depression. However, on the contrary, rain is the sole essence of existence, it grants life to all beings on earth; it is the greatest gift we could ever hope for. Without rain to replenish the earth, our world would quickly dry up, and everything we know will eventually disappear.

I want to explore the irony of how we interpret and view the rain as something that brings gloominess, even though its intention is to embrace the earth and bring us life.

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Why is rain often associated with sadness and depression? Even though water is usually considered a source of tranquility, did we forget that this was all due to the efforts of rain? Due to this common troupe being present in many TV shows and poetic works, I have already formed my biased opinion on this. However, through this creative inquiry process, I hope to take on a fresh and unbiased perspective of the rain. I want to discover all the sadness, pain, and anguish these droplets bring, along with the life and exhilaration. I wish to pay particular attention to the sensation of the rain, and to observe, take note, and compare different things that are either positively or negatively affected by the rain. Finally, I want to learn what rain means to me, how it makes me feel as I stand in it. Will I be able to appreciate the beauty and pure intention of it? Or will I, like many others, reject it?

Another thing that I do not know is, why do most living beings instinctually seek shelter from rain? Even though the rain gave us life in the first place? Instead of searching for scientific reasons, I wish to find the answer by closely observing the actions of a living being, and how it responds to the pouring rain.

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Through my immersion research, I was able to obtain a fresh and unbiased view of the rain. By walking through the rain with a clear mind, without the immediate association of sadness and depression I was told to feel, I was able to see and identify the pure intentions of the rain. As I observed the empty playground, noticing the absence of people/children, and the emptiness the rain has brought, I felt the need to create a poem that tells the rain that there is someone that appreciates them.

As I watched the bird seek shelter from the rain, I came to understand why the rain needed to stop. Because it needs to find food, not just for itself but for its entire family, and the rain made it significantly more difficult.

By studying the rain water I collected, I was able to observe the purity of rain, and how the negative views of the danger of rain is unjustified.

By integrating all of these findings and new perspectives into my poem, I was able to be sympathetic to the rain's efforts and intentions while also understanding the sadness it brings.