Vietnam faces deadly flooding disaster - Red Cross

Something I wrote a few years back:

MONSOON
A tension in the air so strong
The stillness rolling in, about to break
A heave vibrancy that clings to your nerves
Like a lingering, almost forgotten, headache

The sky cracks with tension, unnaturally silent
And then the rain begins to fall
A silver curtain of water coming down
Blocking all view, a vaporous wall

Torrential down pour sends up sprays of mud
In the red dust of the street
A drummer gone crazy, pounding out the rhythm
Of Mother Natures wildest beat

The company street, flowing like a river
I cross, to go for a beer
The newbies are running, trying to stay dry
It's the first storm of the year

Immediately soaked through to the skin
The second I step through the door
Mud over boot tops, water dripping in eyes
The rains continue to pour

The club looks like it's full of drowned rats
Puddles forming under every chair
Little streams running off from our feet
We drink, in that hot, humid air

Our clothes we can never get quite dry
For nine long days, non-stop
We just suffer along through it
As the rains continue to drop

Then suddenly it has ended
Steam raising all around
The air afterwards is clear
Water running off the ground

We stand there in the brightness
Of a glaring hot sun at noon
Glad that this is over for now
This bitch we call Monsoon

Stan Hutchinson
1989

Thank you for the news share from the BBC shipmate PO1 William "Chip" Nagel