the large drops strike me on the cheeks, the eyelids, chest, side, penis, legs and bottom – the stinging pain like a religious initiation or something. Along with the pain there’s a feeling of closeness, as though for once in my life the world’s treating me fairly. I feel elated, as if all of a sudden I’ve been set free. I face the sky, hands held wide apart, open my mouth wide and gulp down the falling rain.
