Storms Collage & Poetry by Kathy Cotton
Storm Songs
Bassoon night. Bass drum and cymbals
and tuba night. An hour into sleep,
I waken to the wind’s deep reed and brass timbre,
limbs like mallet and rute striking rhythms
against the house, crescendo clash of patio chairs.
I fade into the storm song, a lullaby to me,
though never to Mother, whose raging fear
stowed me beneath the sturdy oak safety
of a kitchen table to wait out warnings.
There I wrote little weather songs:
“Tornado, Get Under the Table” and
“Blow Away, Rain.” There I perfected drowsing
to wind chimes and thunder drums, as I do tonight,
curling softly into a storm's dark serenade,
wondering if it can be heard above the clouds,
or below the peaceful grass of Mother’s grave.
Published 2014 by Forge