lightning bolts sky to earth
thunder growls menace
gone-purple clouds roll low
but the rain doesn’t fall

crowds
gathered to watch their children
in feats of strength and speed
stare instead upward
to gauge the fireworks
whisper of the wisdom
of aluminum bleachers
the risk of voltage
but don’t move

unnoticed
shots
on a repeating track
triumph and heartbreak
crackle in the haze
of adolescence
hurdles cleared
races run
batons passed
eyes met

unseen

count the seconds
from then to now
judge the approach
of what’s to come

It seems like only yesterday

they agree

in an apartment across town
a man runs weathered fingers
along the windowsill
imagining, if he is very still
and very quiet
he might grasp something of her left behind
in the whiskered texture of the
stroked paint

outside, sirens wail
below the thunder
posted notice
for him

count the seconds
from then to now
judge the approach
of what’s to come

It seems like only yesterday

she was here

thunder and lightning merge
behind the report
of his refusal
to vacate

unseen

sirens merge with blood

the world wears on
sticky with unfallen skies
crowds
seatbelt their futures
inch home
curse the delay
of police action

behind dry glass
small talk
this storm isn’t theirs
they won’t claim it
eyes straight ahead

count the seconds
from then to now
what’s to come

unmet

only

yesterday