Addressed to "Mama" and marked as a dedication to Ouma Elsie, the poem is a plea to sit quietly and listen. In each stanza the speaker names a different kind of weather: rain, wind, thunder, a storm. Each one is linked to a hard "truth" and to feelings that are difficult to manage. The weather starts gentle and grows louder, and the emotions grow with it, from feeling like "puppets" to fighting "emotional wars."
The truth is never spelled out. Judging by the phrase "brutal truth of time," it may be about loss, ageing or grief, but the poem leaves that open. The speaker moves from "me" to "us" and then to "our cries," so the pain seems shared, not private. The mood is heavy, restless and sorrowful, with a sense of people hiding their feelings from "jovial crowds." The short last line, "Be still and listen, Mama," drops the storm imagery and becomes a quiet, direct appeal.