Han Jae Lee
Heavy Rain Showers
After the sweltering heat
that continued for two weeks
rain suddenly pours down.
For more than an hour it continues.
While low clouds hang ominously over the mountains
dark clouds rush in across the horizon.
And then the downtown is filled with deafening thunder— Kaboom!
It grows louder, hour by hour.
A short distance away the towering buildings
grow dim and invisible.
It is dark even in the afternoon.
The cries of birds cease.
They remain at their nesting places
aware of their surroundings.
During storms like these
I also feel the need to cower;
to take a backward glance at what I have been.
that continued for two weeks
rain suddenly pours down.
For more than an hour it continues.
While low clouds hang ominously over the mountains
dark clouds rush in across the horizon.
And then the downtown is filled with deafening thunder— Kaboom!
It grows louder, hour by hour.
A short distance away the towering buildings
grow dim and invisible.
It is dark even in the afternoon.
The cries of birds cease.
They remain at their nesting places
aware of their surroundings.
During storms like these
I also feel the need to cower;
to take a backward glance at what I have been.
Han-Jae Lee has studied poetry at Chung-Ang University and Korea University, and in the United States at library workshops in Santa Cruz, San Jose and at the Hudson Valley Writers’ Center in New York. In 2005 his poem, A High-rise Apartment, won a silver award in a national contest sponsored by The National Assembly of Korea and The Federation of Korean Cultural Center. His first poetry collection, A High-rise Apartment, was published in Korea in 2008. He also co-published three poetry anthologies, and his poems have appeared in several Korean literary magazines. His second collection in English in 2013, The Golden Gate Bridge and Other Natural Wonders, was published by River Sanctuary Publishing. His chapbook, A Place Where Clouds Are Flowing was published by Finishing Line Press in 2017. His poems have appeared in Catamaran Literary Reader, Monterey Poetry Review, Caesura, Sand Hill Review, and Crab Orchard Review.
