Rain canals

As a kid, I loved the canals

I loved watching water flowing

Through the small canals alongside

The green paddy fields in my village

I dug up small canals around my home

Connected all of them to create a system

I dug trenches to fill in the rainwater from canals

I dug notches to divert the water to coconut tree plots

When it rains, I used to glance through the windows

To see the water gushing through my rain canals

Sometimes I put paper boats from one end

Then I wait to see it sailing down the slope

Slowly towards those plots or trenches

Those canals were scaled rivers for me

That brims into life only when it rains

It was a crazy hobby but I loved it

Last night I dug a small rain canal

Alongside the road near my home

To flush away the flooded rainwater

At night under the bright streetlight

I found myself excited just as that kid

 When I saw the rainwater racing away

 When it rains, I turn pages of memory

I still have so many rain canals to dig

To show my kids how to enjoy rain