Breaking the Rules Tonight…

A little something different…

Time

Rain and thunder at 4 a.m. continuing past daybreak
For the first time in three weeks
And finally,
The swelling of spring gives way
To what lies beneath.

Carl Castle stutters over electrified radio waves
While the mountains’ version of Morning Edition
Electrocutes half the sky.
The laptop screen ziggles.
The phone line is dead.
Tiny hairs around my part stand on end.
Pacing from room to room feels like wading through the electric.
I unplug everything but the fridge.

It could be nice
To make love through the storm.
The kind where hands grip knowingly
Like a pitcher’s knuckles around the leather.
The kind where lightning surges through palms
And there are no words at all.
The kind where the mind shuts off
with total disregard for bed sheets.

Instead I wait it out,
Kissing daylight goodnight with hands in anjali
Facing the rock wall of the Black Mountains
And trying to decipher how far up the saddle
Our white oaks, maples, and cherries have
Started blooming.