I hear the thunder, see the rain,
And suddenly I’m thirteen again.
Sitting alone in my room.
Dark and cold inside and out.
Braced for the roar of the coming thunder.
I wait, but the thunder never comes.
Lightning strikes; swift and quiet.
Stalking me like a leopard would game.
Springing, burning through my flesh,
Ripping my heart from my chest…
A flash of light brings me back.
Older now, my shell is stronger.
I’m braced as I was an eternity ago.
For my parents’ divorce, the coming storm.
I hear the thunder, see the rain.
And suddenly, I’m thirteen again.
The Bob Files 