PASSING STORMS

Lightning trembles across the night sky

White punches which glaze the deep blue darkness

in shades of purple

(a bit of royalty, a bit of a bruise).

Occasional reverberations of unease, yet distant, discreet

A light show - come see!

So mesmerizing, I took the bait

Stepped outside into the still air

watched the clouds coruscate in chorus.

I stood my ground

I who have a fear of being jabbed by lightning

(yet a hygge love for storms when snugly indoors)

My skin prickled

The sky is barbarous and capricious:

her own authoritative majesty.

There’s a storm inside my heart

Fulgurating on mute

A pulse of strife, a quiver of worry, a jet of sorrow

Sometimes others can see through my skin

and sometimes it is for me alone to carry

A tempest for one

and like the tumult outside

it can be both brutal

and dazzling.

Later, the rain will come in spates

Later, perhaps I’ll weep or shout or shake

For now, I step inside

let the burgeoning notes of thunder

soothe me to sleep.

Come morning

New light and birdsong

will swell to fill the sky

Likewise

the rain-cleansed palate of my heart

will croon in harmony.