Three days in a row
it rained hard.
The sun went missing.
Umbrellas, raincoats, waiting
all soaked.
Water gushed down the slopes.
Alone, all day, I sat
floating peace messages
mounted on paper-boats;
hoping they would reach
the Sutlej.
Some of them
you might find still
stuck in the bushes.

Next day the papers
talked of a missile test.

That was the last time I stepped out
in rain.

(First published in Chandrabhaga 4/2001)