There Will Come Soft Rains





Sara Teasdale wrote There Will Come Soft Rains after the horror of WW1,  depicting the power of Mother Nature to regenerate after war’s destruction. In 1950, Ray Bradbury took the title and wrote a science fiction short story describing the destruction of a self-functioning house as it slowly breaks down after a strong wind blows a tree branch into the kitchen.

Bradbury’s choice of the kitchen for the start of the destruction of the house is important. This room has traditionally been the symbol of family life…the hearth and the home. Love for the soul and food for the body. But the mother was replaced by automatic coffee makers and toasters. An automated voice droned out birthdays and the weather. The imagery of a busy family, dashing madly out of the door to make more money, to buy more things is painfully sad.

What is our response after a disaster? Often it is one of defiance “We will rebuild bigger and better” with more gadgets to make our lives simpler, safer. More defense systems, warning devices so that we can protect all that we have built.

COVID 19 has shown us the folly of our desires. Not all destruction comes from wars and bombs.

We complain about the smog choking our big cities, yet now, even Los Angles is clear. We mourn the loss of wildlife, yet dolphins are once again swimming in the canals of Venice and geese roam our streets.

We have choices to make now. We have another chance. We can continue our insatiable madness for empty materialism and the craving for time-saving gadgets to make our lives easier. Or we can step back and change.

If not, there will come soft rains and nature will rejoice.

Ajijic, April 2020

https://poets.org/poem/there-will-come-soft-rains

https://archive.org/stream/RayBradbury-SoftRains/There%20Will%20Come%20Soft%20Rains%20-%20Ray%20Bradbury_djvu.txt

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