The best light and sound shows
Are free
Forked plasma arcs
Across the heads of purple clouds
Cumulonimbus screens
The high-voltage displays
Mushrooms lit up from within
Striated and variegated
Reaching into space
Simultaneously touching the ground
Then the thunder rolls
Like Thor's chariot
Like God's own bowling team
Like an avalanche of boulders
Some thunder is almost gentle
Far off and whispering
More felt and guessed at
Than heard
Some thunder is like pistol crack
Jolting, loud, and deafening
As I listen to the sound
And see the light through tightly-closed eyelids
My body tenses
As if charged by the lightning in the air
The strobe flashes
The thunder peals
I snuggle down deeper into my bed
And wait for it to pass
Terrified
But thrilled
Are free
Forked plasma arcs
Across the heads of purple clouds
Cumulonimbus screens
The high-voltage displays
Mushrooms lit up from within
Striated and variegated
Reaching into space
Simultaneously touching the ground
Then the thunder rolls
Like Thor's chariot
Like God's own bowling team
Like an avalanche of boulders
Some thunder is almost gentle
Far off and whispering
More felt and guessed at
Than heard
Some thunder is like pistol crack
Jolting, loud, and deafening
As I listen to the sound
And see the light through tightly-closed eyelids
My body tenses
As if charged by the lightning in the air
The strobe flashes
The thunder peals
I snuggle down deeper into my bed
And wait for it to pass
Terrified
But thrilled
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