Prompt 14 June 14 The different fans for air cooling by Uiba Mangang 

Fans remind me of holidays

Past holidays

Waiting for a train

In a Spanish waiting room

Windows closed against the insufferable heat

Women sitting Burdened with bags, 

Sweaty and moaning children

Sometimes with poultry as well

All waiting for an elusive train

Not cancelled, just delayed

By the relentless heat of a summer day

Waiting for the heat to cool down the rails

Even the flies were subdued 

Stuck on any flat surface 

Waiting for a draft of fresh air

To take flight 

It would have been silent 

In the oppressive heat

But for the old women chattering 

Catching up with gossips

Flapping their outmoded fans

Of colourful designs and make

Mocking the youngsters 

Making do with swishing to and fro

The latest glossy magazines

On a flick of their wrist 

The fans took speed or slowed down

As their tales got on

Slowly heavily my eyelids 

Flapped and closed with their rythme 

When someone shook me awake 

The train had arrived.

Lucette C. Bailliet 

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