Take me back, way, way back
To sunny summer afternoons
Riding my bike back from Groombridge Primary
And getting caught in a thunderous downpour

Before it starts everything gets quiet
Even the birds become still
And the dark column of cloud rolls over
You can feel the air getting excited with electricity

First a muted, bass drumroll of thunder
Then a deafening crack of blinding lightening
And the big, wet drops start falling
Laughing and speeding through the warm air

The shortcut through the vlei means a spray of mud up the back!
Like the time I took the corner too sharp
And got completely covered in it
Laughing all the way

And then it ends as quickly as it started
The sun bursts through again
And the earth smells warm and wet
As my shirt dries on my back

Getting home I strip off wet school clothes and jump in the pool
Filled right to the top from the heavy rain
Floating on my back looking up at the big avo tree
And then lying face down on the bricks watching the puddles dry

Chandipa leans on his spade and smiles his crooked smile
(because the police dog bit him when he walked past the burgled house)
Mai Flora hangs out the washing again
Shouting a conversation with the maid next door

Lunch on the stoep, doorstop sandwiches and Mazoe orange juice
Listening to My Gypsy Girl on Radio Three
Resting safe in the lazy and self-confident security
Of a white afternoon in Africa