A Prairie Storm

Low, distant grumbling thunder wakened 

from a troubled sleep. 

Heard long before the wind 

raced through the trees 

flogging them with no regard

to the stately green giants.

Flashes of lightning flicker.

Rain flung at the world.

streets ran with icy water 

sloshed from the heavens.

Tiny hailstones raced

ahead of raindrops.

In an hour, 

exhaustion is all that’s left. 

The calm after the storm 

drips in the evening chill. 

“Nature makes no noise. The howling storm, 

the rustling leaves, the pattering rain are no disturbance, 

there is an essential and unexplored harmony in them.”

~ Henry David Thoreau

(Journal, 18 November 1837)

A Balancing Game

What do I write about tonight?

Something short, intelligent and brimming with wisdom 

~ or not. 

While my head 

senses my balance, 

I sense my discomfort, 

my lack of balance. 

Where does it come from ?

The inner ear, 

some kind of brain function 

 ~ both in agreement?

Or maybe something unknown?

Regardless, balance was restored 

by a good chat with a friend this afternoon 

and an evening out with other women 

to discuss matters of entertainment and food 

while watching others win door prizes.

“If you break your neck, if you have nothing to eat, if your house is on fire, 

then you’ve got a problem. Everything else is inconvenience.”

~ Robert Fulghum,

(Author of All I Really need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten)

Brain Fog

It was clearer today 

as though a gust of wind 

had brushed aside 

gathering cobwebs ~ 

flinging them into 

muttering thunderclouds,

washing it clean in 

raindrops and cool air.

“Sometimes it all gets a little too much, but 

you gotta realize that soon the fog will clear up.”

~ Shawn Mendes, singer, song-writer