An Ode to Freak Weather in Beijing

The sudden rainstorms in Beijing last Tues (16th June) cause a flutter of tweets, speculating that the Beijing Weather Modification Bureau aka 北京市人工影响气象办公室 has wreaked havoc and caused irreversible damage.

I never thought we would talk about the weather in Beijing as much as the Londoners are wont to do. But we did.

Bemused, I decide to write an ode to the apocalyptic weather that unexpectedly visited Beijing :

Wind and The Rain/ 风雨

to call it a “storm”
is to put it mildly.

it is
more like a rehearsal
for the
apocalypse

only we are caught off guard
unprepared
running scared.

like an extra
in a B Grade movie

with cheesy sound effects

thunderclap
rumble tumble
leaves screaming at the top of
the trees

there we go
scurrying across the street
dashing for cover

wishing all the time
we were in a better movie
or at least
in more glam costume

here we are
blown across the pavement
stunned by the midnight
that has
suddenly
rudely
arrived at noon.

if only this were a musical
we could at least
sing
in the
wind and the rain

we could belt out silly lyrics
that really make no sense
when you seriously

think about it

except who can think
in all this
wind and the rain