As storms pass
And lightening sparks
Like flashlights in
Dark forests thunder
Booms like hammers
On bass drums
And then there
In the aftermath
Of nature’s artillery
Comes the sweet
Sullen rain pattering
On pavement bouncing
Like little acrobats
And if you
Listen very closely
You can even
Hear a weeeeeeee
You know that
You’re over it
Finally when all
Those special things
Become normal things
Once again like
Cleaning a chalkboard
Allowing now new
Normal things to
Become special things
With someone else
When you approach
And foreheads touch
The beads of
Breathy humidity hangs
Like tiny clouds
Plump with rains’
Longing and desire
And right before
Our lips touch
I whisper into
Your open mouth
Kiss me like
You mean it
And like a
Lagoon at rest
After a deluge
Long after the
Thunderous storming cacophony
Of unexpected change
Blows on past
Most everything once
Again dips drops
And finally dies
Decomposing down below
At the bottom
Allowing newness to
Float clearly above
And in clarity
Bright things seen
Swimming and shimmering
Darting and dancing
While the past
Settles down at
Long long last
And with my
Eyes I spy
A new day
Breaking out there
Not yet here
Canopy of clouds
Like London umbrellas
Growling and muttering
Hovering above churning
Seas washing the
Bleached beached sand
In sudsy foam
Depositing sea shells
At my feet
Which sink quickly
Like hasty relationships
And yet there
Beyond my reach
Dawn breaks through
Like a Chinese
Dragon on NewYears
Exploding bleeding red
For a moment
Then quietly gone
Just like yesterday
HARLAN DIDRICKSON 