The pregnant clouds

by Pentecost Mate

The cloud above me hangs
like fruits of a ripe avocado.
It is in its third trimester.
Gated within walls of confinement,
we wait for its showers
in the breaking of the water
so that we bathe in bubbly liberty,
celebrating reminiscences of yore
and the connecting effect rain has
as its train of raindrops splatters
over rooftops of every home,
giving freshness to every nostril
that now knows-not any airiness
as it’s canvassed by a mask… 
that human substitute for a muzzle. 

Biography 
Pentecost Mate is an established literary icon of rare fictional attributes. He lives in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe’s hub of artistic expression. He is a former National Arts Merit Awards (NAMA) nominee. He has been published in Bulawayo (Zimbabwe), Toronto (Canada), New Delhi and West Bengal states of India, Southern California (USA), Berlin (Germany). He has also found space in the Inner Child Press International’s The Heart of a Poet, in the OPA Anthology of Poetry 2020: Striving for Survival and in Aulos: Anthology of English poetry. His poetry and fiction have also received recognition and positive reception in South Africa.