David Lee's Poetry

Storm of Silence (The Poetry Reader)

Outside the sirens call out, I’m coming, help is on the way.
I leave it there, outside, with the brisk spring breeze
to carry the sound to anothers' ears who may want to listen.
But here I sit, legs and feet wrapped tightly, trying to hold cold at bay,
here I sit in a hot desert storm. I smell the rain. I feel the heat.

His words roll in heavy, like the storm in his hands.
He reads with arms flailing, fingers knarled or stretched tight
Emphasizing each phrase with pointed voice and tone
A choreographed song
A rhapsody of emotion.
I could close my eyes and feel the steam on my face
but I would miss the illustrations. I watch, unblinking
Mesmerized by the lightening, awaiting the thunder,
Ominous.
His poem is looming in the clouds, hanging low
Anticipating…waiting, silent.
It begins with a single word, dripping carefully
onto anxious ears
Then another and another.

The storm rages full,
all of the jumbled letters squish together
Forming huge drops of words
Raining down in sheets as though a thesaurus
Evaporated, was captured by the torrent
and escaped, gushing undisciplined upon our unsuspecting heads.
No umbrella to shield. No need. The torrential drench
feels…good,
fills souls.

His thick eyebrows building lines in his forehead
Line upon line, rising and falling
like the ebb and flow, the waves of words
Flooding, unstoppable down the gully,
Falling deep into the caverns between the rocks
Rising high, with a gush of power, climbing the cliff,
it’s ascent stopped abruptly, with a crash,
slapping painfully and holding tight to the sheer, steep side.
Sliding, defeated, clawing at the debris to bring like a souvenir
back to the traveling wall. Pacing.
It turns and bends, seeking the floor of the dry valley.

He bows. I can breathe again.

Is it fair to feed us dessert and not the meal?
One more poem? One more verse?
One more line? One more title?
One more bite?
Alas, no. For there is no quenching the thirst
of a dry desert.
The rain fell too fast.
The storm moved along,
was gone.
Patti Tippetts