Love Storms

Lightning never rings the doorbell
It’s more the unanticipated guest
A nocturnal moving of your favored cheese
Or an arresting act of God

It may precede a summer rain
Or mist may follow slowly
It may even come without
As the air breathes dry, electric

It strikes me clearly, though
It will always leave profound
Effects when and where it visits
A firmamental shock and awe

But never twice, the wise ones say
An adage either comforting
Or deeply discouraging
Though of course it isn’t true at all

I told her once as I held her
That I have no such expectation
That God does not owe anyone
A second bolt from the blackness

But as the storm is presaged by the wind
A clap of thunder always follows
Once the streak of light has gone
And darkness always begets a dawn

I feel the rumble coming
I feel before I hear
God has never ceased to amaze me
And I am ready for this house to rock