Outside this ragged darkening cloud
air grows heavy, cringes
while inside, tension builds

a forked tongue flickers
squanders all
in one great leap to earth
or to the heavens

air breathes out
-but inside the cloud
tension builds again.

This story older
than recorded history
dinosaurs
our planet's green
-the spark, perhaps
that kindled life.

Looking up, we see it
rip the helpless sky,
we marvel at its power
to scorch forests
wreck cathedrals
put out a city's lights
weave glass serpents
in the desert sand.

Looking down, as now we can,
our globe scintillates
always
-flurries of dagger-strokes
accompanying great storms
over oceans
jungles, mountains

a fireworks show
blazoning messages
in code
which we must crack.

J. Latham