---

Even the heavens are scripted

The governments summon the rains 

to rinse the Earth of its sins 

The guilty alchemists, 

Strike a deal with Zeus 

and hand us mortals

some drizzle 

sometimes a downpour

Until the smog

fades from public memory

So much for the romance 

of the first monsoon— 

its shy arrival, 

its aching farewell 

The clouds are calibrated 

Not too thick

lest they obstruct the skyline 

in all its glory 

We need just enough gaps 

to glimpse patches of sky

Stars peeking through 

like scalp between thinning hair

Illusionists run the country

Turning the weather at will

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Vandana Kumar is a translator, recruitment consultant, cinephile, Indie Film Producer and a multiple award-winning poet from New Delhi, India. Her poems have been published in over 150 national and international websites and anthologies of repute. Her poetry collection ‘Mannequin of Our Times’ has won several awards and been translated recently into Greek and French.