The Silent Storm That Never Came

The Silent Storm That Never Came

I sit on the porch watching the distant lightening storm.

It seems lodged behind the mountain across the narrow valley below.

At times, it lights up the gray sky as bright as a sun lite day.

Sometimes, I can see the zigzag bolts falling from the heavens.

They slam into the earth below leaving scorch marks that I cannot see.

The storm makes no sound that I can hear and does not stir the wind.

The bolts are so random, and so many that I lose count.

It seems so forlorn, lonely and useless without the sound.

I watch it for so long my bones get restless, so I go outside.

My bare feet feel the wetness of the night dew from the grass.

Standing I watch the storm that has not moved since I have seen it.

I think maybe if I stand outside it will come my way.

Bring a rain that will wash away the grime from my body.

The lightning will surround me with crackling energy.

A power so great it will consume my body, soul and spirit.

Finally, I will feel the thunder as it shakes the earth beneath my soles.

Alas, I stand there for a long time watching and waiting.

The storm moves no closer and still flashes menacingly at me.

The scowl on my face turns to a grin as I begin to realize.

The storm ever so slowly is drifting away from me.

Ah, oh mighty storm are you afraid of me?

Or do you run from me or just deny me?

Do I even register in your plane of existence?

I chuckle to myself; it doesn't really matter.

Reviews

[manisha]

Wow nice poem. Well done :)

[H.L. Cerveise]

Thank you for reading and reviewing this writing. I am glad you enjoyed it.

[Emily]

Love this!!
Keep on writing!

[H.L. Cerveise]

Thank you for reading and reviewing my poem.

[Marianne Rose]

Great poem with a lot of imagery to take us there with you watching the lightening. I love the way you walk outside, wet feet, inviting the storm, calling it toward you to bring out the thunder and experience the energy. Where it seems pretty suicidal to invite lightning to take you, I don't read it that way at all. More like a longing to merge with one mighty aspect of nature, become bigger than yourself. The fact that it moves away- well, this feels so sad, as if nature itself rejected your calling it forth. Even though you start with "are you afraid of me?" What registers is "or deny me" and the wondering "if I even register . . ." And chuckling at yourself is a nice human twist- a human playing at merging with a lightning storm . . . A gentle laugh about what we do sometimes- reminds me of the scene in Forest Gump where Lt. Dan is screaming at God from the top of the mast in a storm "is that the best you can do?" Great write.

[H.L. Cerveise]

I love your review. Thank you so much. You have captured so much of what I was feeling that night from my words. Yes a merging with the cosmos not and end.

[Nessly]

You have a magnificent way of showing human connection to earth.


Great write.

[H.L. Cerveise]

Thank you. I just write what I feel and what I must put down in words. I feel so connected to the cosmos sometime.

[Diamond]

"It seems so forlorn, lonely and useless without the sound." So true.
Its very painful and difficult to sync the three levels of consciousness but I am with you in this poem too.

[H.L. Cerveise]

Thank you for reading and reviewing my poem. I am glad you understand the concept behind this writing.

[Diamond]

I'm sure that is the line you love most too...right?

[H.L. Cerveise]

Yes that line was and is my favorite in this writing. :)

[iamshadowine]

You always have these amazing titles which always force me to read the poem! the poem is more than amazing!! i loved it!
keep writing :D

[H.L. Cerveise]

I am so glad you read and reviewed my writing. Hum, I will have to keep in mind to continue making titles that look interesting. I am happy you loved it.

[William Liston]

I love how you conveyed so much emotion in this piece. There was a sense of desire, pleasure, happiness, elegance...I could go on and on. The imagery was beautiful--so beautiful that I didn't just visualize the moment, I felt it. I actually felt the "wetness of the night dew from the grass," it was more than just a mere visualization. Along with that, I like how you control the mood of this poem throughout. I felt a sense of want gradually increasing through the poem until finally, it is interrupted by a somewhat light-hearted feel when you say "I chuckle to myself; it really doesn't matter."

Just a tip for your poetry in general, I'd like to see you work on brevity in poems of this type, where you try to make the reader feel a certain sensation throughout. Your poems are very elaborate, which is a good quality, but I'd like to see you expand your horizons. Sometimes, it's good to read a poem where the words seem to float, and even though it may not make much sense, it's still felt more than understood. Nessly is good at doing that in my opinion.

-William Liston

[H.L. Cerveise]

Thank you for reading and reviewing my writing. I have a number of shorter poems. I am just not sure I have sent you any of them. I will do that. One that Nessly really liked was Alphalogos. I sent you a read request on that one. I have also been doing some Warrior Poet Zen short poems. I will send you read requests for those also. Some of them have been inspired by reviews of Nessly's poems and of her reviews of mine.

[William Liston]

When I said brevity, I was referring to line length. I read your poem Alphalogos and enjoyed it, but I didn't leave a review.

[H.L. Cerveise]

Ah, shorter lines. Alphalogos does not have shorter lines. True I do write in general long lines. I will publish some haiku poems. My poem Little has shorter lines but is more of a song poem really. I tend not to publish shorter line poems I have done. I will have to rethink that. Thanks.