I loooooove thunderstorms. For me, they've always been the best part of summer.

I love the anticipation of a thunderstorm,
Watch the clouds grow blue-black and heavy
On the horizon, seeing them surge across the sky
Changing the very color of the air
Still, thick and sullen

I love the way the temperature changes swift
Trees wind-whipped show white under-leaves
I love the sudden crash of rain when it begins
Hard enough to say "this is a real storm,"
"Take cover if you're smart"

And all the wild birds flee for heavy cover,
Sparrows, chickadees for the spruce,
The cottontails and chipmonks for burrows,
Squirrels for their homes.

Sitting and watching the sky flash,
Silhouetting every trembling leaf for one heartbeat
Before the world goes dark again
Then comes the thunder while I count in thousands
One-one-thousand, two-one-thousand
Habit of a lifetime as the storms bounced back and forth
Between my hometown hills

More rare and precious is chain lighting
Seeing that brilliant fraying yarn of light
Snake through the glowering sky to earth
Always breathtaking and by the time I can say
"look there!" it's gone, but still burnt
Into my retina, my brain

I love the stillness of the house when the power fails
No fans, no motors, no refrigerator hum
And when it doesn't flick back on,
The rush to eat the ice cream before it melts
Three spoonfuls in, laughing, the lights return

I love the aftermath of the storm
The ozone-smell of air seems cleaner
Like the world, the air, the sky
Have all been scoured clean
And I can breathe again

I love thunderstorms.