before the storm - Kay Thayer

you’re in the eye

of the beholder -- the hurricane

pulsing over your hips.

here in bed,

you think the storm has calmed.

that we’re prized:

like the flower between the cracks

that survived the flood.

you and i both know

evacuation was never a choice.

you think we’re safe,

so you neglect and the dust stirs.

you’re heedless to the bolstering breeze

as it crescendos,

smashing against the shutters.

look up at your empty ceiling.

the bulb blows and the house rocks

like a cradle.

you’ll never have me this way again.

peace in the sheets,

hands gentle in the wake.

everything shivers as the rain

starts to wail.

i am the wind roaring past your ears

when you jut off of the mattress.

you tell yourself that everything passes.

my compliance

and the calm will too.