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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17 comments:
Fabulous poem, love the rich imagery! And I love that old English name, Wulfstan!
As a farm girl, born and bred I totally know what you're saying here!!
xo
a mega monster with scythes and talons and flashing white eyes..as frightening as such storms can get..
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!
Yes, my wife and I, ten years ago, did ride one out; very frightening for sure; something one never forgets.
This prompt was made perfect for you and your imagination. Job, well done
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...
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.
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"
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.
I remember storms like that, when the lightning made daylight for what seemed like hours.
I can smell it in your poem.
Very cool Glenn. Love the description in here, so visual, very nicely done. Thanks
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
Gorgeous imagery!
Fine piece, and - as others have said - great images. I particularly liked:
as we witnessed
the terrible beauty
of God’s veins
turning electric
Amazing! We're not in Kansas anymore, Poet...I'm clicking my heels and headed for the cellar!
Love the feel and imagery of this poem...most enjoyable.
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