Just one drop,

That's all he asked for.

To feel the rain

Once more on his skin

And know that he

Was still alive.

Barty slipped his fingers

Through the metal bars

That covered the little window.

He couldn't reach the rain.

The hyena laughs

Of the mad and deranged

Never stop echoing

Around this god-forsaken place,

And the chill of the Dementors,

And the despair of the damned,

Hangs heavy in the air.

The cold stone wall is a comfort;

It reminds him he can still feel,

And as he lay his head against it,

He tried to remind himself why he was there:

To wait for his master to rise yet again.

But his master could not see

What Barty saw.

Barty saw the rain

Falling in sheets of brilliant silver.

Barty saw the ocean

Rising against the rock.

Barty saw no freedom

From his little cell in Azkaban.

And Barty saw no hope

Of touching the rain again.

Slender fingers strained

Against the heavy, restricting bars;

The moonlight teased

The pale and weakening skin,

And the fingers stretched farther

To try and grasp the rain.

Another cold chill

Rushes down Barty's spine

And the Dementor at his door

Steals his happiness again.

As he sinks to the floor,

The pale fingers retract.

He forgot why the rain had given him

Any brief delight.

It was only rain

And to try to touch it

Was a futile attempt.

A frail figure,

Whose life was almost gone,

Lay broken on the floor

Of his little cell in Azkaban.

His hands were dry and empty

Of the liquid hope falling outside.

His eyes were dull

And void of life.

The rain still hit

The stone outside,

But Barty was denied his

Just One Drop.