THE PASSING STORM

Rosetta Nebula

Asleep

a faint storm

begins its distant roll

rumbling rumbling

rumbling progressively louder

with each rumble

across and down through Blue Ridge

awakening my slumber

in the distance

night darkened windows

flickering faint flashes

rain begins its pounding patter

the tin roof resounds with pour

now gusto

a boom or two louder

5 - 4 - 3 - 2  I count

tracking the storm

toward my safehouse

Turns out it’s a mild storm

comforting as

it passes over into the distance

rumbles receding

i too recede to sleep

Nature has worked its magic

on what the indigenous deemed

dry ridge

I awake to Virgil’s

rosey dawn

and nature renewed

tom tenbrunsel

Carl Sandburg Writer 2023