Torrential rain
It pushes every impurity from the sky,
Steams from car bonnets,
Running down drains and lanes and faces.

It gathers dirt at the bottom of puddles,
Keeps it there, in wait of the unwary walker,
Grit in the shoes, grime between the toes
Of a delighted, scolded school kid.

Tracing patterns down the window pane,
Seething droplets
Smudging the outside world from view.
I huddle in this cocoon of warmth and dry

As the heavy sky falls around me.