Thursday, June 7, 2012

Wulfstan



image borrowed from deviant art


Wulfstan
We were hours deep into 
southern Louisiana one spring,
marveling at the darkness at noon,
as the sun fled, hearing a tornado warning
barking from the car radio
and for a brief blink everything
                                            was 
                                     deathly 
                                  still 
                               just 
                        before 
                          it 
                  rained 
                   so 
              hard
           we had to pull over
to the side of the highway
followed
by the bellicose bellowing 
of thunder
as we witnessed
the terrible beauty
of God’s veins
turning electric
when crackling shards
of spider web lightning
stabbed jagged holes in the sky,
 and the air was full of wolf god howling,
and we both knew that 
there was a towering wind demon
near by, swirling up farm trucks,
bath tubs, and lives;
a mega-monster
with scythes and talons
and flashing white eyes
dealing in a dozen kinds of death
and daring us to tread
within its alley.
Glenn Buttkus
June 2012

Would you like to hear the author read this poem to you?





17 comments:

David F. Barker said...

Fabulous poem, love the rich imagery! And I love that old English name, Wulfstan!

Jannie Funster said...

As a farm girl, born and bred I totally know what you're saying here!!

xo

Claudia said...

a mega monster with scythes and talons and flashing white eyes..as frightening as such storms can get..

Mystic_Mom said...

Glenn - I have ridden out the edge of a tornado, and you captured it so well here. Did you ride one out too? Great write!

Glenn Buttkus said...

Yes, my wife and I, ten years ago, did ride one out; very frightening for sure; something one never forgets.

Anonymous said...

This prompt was made perfect for you and your imagination. Job, well done

Brian Miller said...

dude...gods veins in the lightning...all the imagery around the storm is just amazing....i love watching its awesome power...and there are def times we have had to pull over cause it was fruitless to keep going into it...

Unknown said...

The forces of nature always threaten us, and in their state will always be alien, foreign to reduction to human understanding no matter how much we monitor, measure, and calculate. Your poem relly captures the raw power of such forces and the terrible threat they pose to our sense of security, posing the ultimate question of mortality. Excellently rendered.

rosemary mint said...

I LOVE these:

"as we witnessed
the terrible beauty
of God’s veins
turning electric"

"and the air was full of wolf god howling"

"there was a towering wind demon
near by, swirling up farm trucks,
bath tubs, and lives"

henry clemmons said...

After being banished to Denver for a portion of my life, some friends and I took a road trip to Kansas and saw a big strom on the horizon and creep past us and witnessed a tornado briefly drop into exisitance. It was very alien feeling, outerspace landscapish. Anyway loved your descritions. So very real. I had the goodebumps all over again.

Lane Savant said...

I remember storms like that, when the lightning made daylight for what seemed like hours.
I can smell it in your poem.

Unknown said...

Very cool Glenn. Love the description in here, so visual, very nicely done. Thanks

sharonlee said...

Thrilling and vibrant with the power of a wicked storm/wind... rich raw imagery. This was a treat to read.
Living in far northern Australian, in the cyclone region I relate completly.

Peace

Maude Lynn said...

Gorgeous imagery!

Dave King said...

Fine piece, and - as others have said - great images. I particularly liked:

as we witnessed
the terrible beauty
of God’s veins
turning electric

Tashtoo said...

Amazing! We're not in Kansas anymore, Poet...I'm clicking my heels and headed for the cellar!

Anonymous said...

Love the feel and imagery of this poem...most enjoyable.