Rain crosses the fields,
dragging grey curtains
through the night, drenching the house.
Shadows in the hall grow long
as cool air flows in
through the window screens.
The daughter puts her hand in the breeze,
feeling the moisture,
listening to the deep voice
of thunder. Sharp pangs
of lightning slash the sky,
illuminating the yard
as she stares out, looking for forms
hidden in the storm.
She’s heard those sky rumblings
are the devil fighting with his wife,
and she wonders what went wrong
in that marriage. It could be anything.
She can understand trouble,
the one thing that feels familiar.
Out by the highway, a night train
blows its alarm, rattling down
the line, each car window
framing passengers. She watches
the people in the cars as they
glide the storm, caught now and then
in the glare of thunderflash. Watches,
and listens for the heartbeat rattle
of the tracks, the ringing
rage answering in the sky.
Carolyn Adams’ poetry and art have appeared in Steam Ticket, Cimarron Review, Evening Street Review, Dissident Voice, and Blueline Magazine, among others. She is the editor and publisher of the Oregon Poetry Calendar. Having authored four chapbooks, her full-length volume is forthcoming from Fernwood Press. She has been nominated multiple times for both Best of the Net and a Pushcart prize.