Rain is Falling through the Roof

Rain is falling through the roof,

drop by drop, and steady,

to collect in a pan I placed there,

an old pan, bent and crushed, used up, no use now

but for collecting fallen rain,

the rain falling through my roof,

drop by drop, and steady,

a rhythmic drumming, a metallic ting over time

transformed, a faint splash grown loud

in the quiet of the room, like an unseen clock ticking

somewhere, growing louder, for sleep evades me, lying here,

the gentle sound of a summer rain above me soothing,

but for this single beat, drop by drop,

steady, rhythmically filling an old pan, bent

and crushed, of no use now, feeding my fears,

overflowing itself and flooding, carrying me away

as I struggle to fall asleep and dream, like Alice

falling down a rabbit hole, adrift in her own tears,

left to wander, directionless, in a world gone mad,

lost and frightened, unable to find my own way home,

where the rain is falling through the roof,

keeping me awake through the seconds passing drop

by drop into an old pan, bent and crushed, and steady.