Poetry from the Creek: Thunder & Lightning

the accusation wasn’t couched as an
indictment nor too far from truth but it
did presume test-of-character portent

arose from a habit of letting dogs inside
during thunder storms, implying charitable
indulgence and/or reciprocal respect

in reality little connects these concepts
except fervently unilateral expectations
on the part of deviously shrewd canines

whose classic behaviour posits impending
psychiatric disaster if suitable shelter isn’t
provided immediately – if not sooner;

and manipulative, I tactfully suggest, an
obvious, glaring anomaly is absence of
portentously cataclysmic celestial events

sure – all day the Bureau of Meteorology
issues gale warnings and warily suggests
potential size-of-apples hailstones

and PC accessible radar screens all
graphically show multi-coloured storms
swarming over the SE Region

yet the air outside is utterly clear – a few
clouds gather, muted basso rumbles echo
off afar undefinably – BUT NOT HERE

so violent storms are brewing out there
somewhere says the radio but I know canines
can’t discern colours on the PC screen

so I demur – when and if there’s THUNDER
& LIGHTNING we’ll revisit this concession
I say, keeping the door firmly closed

immediate censure is unmistakable –
visibly demonstrating my hearing acuity
is not as dependably precise as theirs

– then the rain begins; ah ha, I say, it’s
over, you’ve survived the worst canine
fears imaginable, and without a mark

but the question is still asked, did you let
the dogs in? No, I say, tho’ in mitigation,
and due to extenuating circumstances

Poetry from the Creek