The stars all ran to hide,

The moon took cover,

Darkness enveloped the once bright sky,

Silent whispers of a love forbidden,

One no one could speak about.

The clouds exploded in pain,

Akin to labour pains,

For lo, it had held on too long,

What was once good had turned into poison,

Vapors turned to droplets,

Then came the torrents!

I was there when the clouds shed tears,

I cried along,

Hearts colder than winter,

Broken worse than a splinter,

We cried some more!

We cried for all the hearts that wouldn’t heal,

The hate that just won’t end,

The darkness that enveloped the earth,

The blindness of man to hurting souls,

We cried!

We cried out the toxic feelings we held back,

The hurts we held onto,

The disappointments we got used to.

We cried, till it was all over.

Till our darkness turned into sky blue,

Till our tears made the flowers grow,

Till the birds could chirp in our ears again,

Till we were okay.

I was there the night the clouds shed tears.

-Mfon Etuk, 2019