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

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