Thunderstorm

A filthy curtain falls over the town

on a performance by an empty stage;

night falls in rage before the sun is down.

Through lifeless windows shines a yellow sky;

a wife in black goes through the windless air

in fright, stares back, and there is nothing there.

Lightning must strike, and soon a man must die,

a child will cry, a struggling butterfly

will be rained down into the gutter,

and some go muttering and wondering why.

Again unharmed as lightning went astray

they must taste rain for danger, and unarmed

hear thunder's anger wasted far away.