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. 

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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

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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

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All rain gutters

Pour like mad with rainwater

The street floods

–

Small bits of

Everything wash down the avenue

As they meet

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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