Ten Minute Texas Thunderstorm 

Midnight darkness slowly, gradually fills an increasingly less silent sky.

Thickening cauliflower clouds with dark bottoms rapidly blow by.

Alternating warm and cool breezes rise and fall directions. 

First a single delicate drop tickles my right cheek like a kiss from the sky.

I run for cover as the impending deluge finally arrives in violent bursts dancing to the music of whispering winds.

Then a brilliant blinding white flash with a concussive answer of thunder punctuating the watery torrent…

-AAA 09/27/2024

The Stormy Lunes

First a trickle

Then the rain picks up

The drops dance

In the wind

With the clouds gradually darkening

Low guttural rumble

Distant at first

The storm isn’t here yet

But it’s close

I feel it

With all its potential energy

Thunder’s closer now.

Heavy rain now

Shrouded world in water’s fog

Hard to see.

A bright flash

And deafening crack of thunder

It had arrived

All rain gutters

Pour like mad with rainwater

The street floods

Small bits of

Everything wash down the avenue

As they meet

Their final destination

Down the deep storm drain

To the ocean

Wind whips violently

Tree branches snap, falling everywhere

Creating ground forests

The rain subsides

The winds die down gradually

The thunder quiets

Far brighter sky

Just as the sun reappears

The waters recede

I venture out

To clear the broken branches

Into a barrel

Clear sky now

Butterflies and birds fly by

Enjoying the warmth…

-AAA 07/25/2024