that dead tree i saw on the other side of the road this morning

for days now

a storm has been brewing.

the skies are grey and

the winds are strong,

and they have been,

for days, weeks, months,

years,

as long as i can remember.

i cannot sleep, of course,

i have never slept;

eyes closed, ears open,

always open.

i am waiting for the sound of thunder.

i am waiting for the crash,

the dreadful boom

of the sky splitting itself open,

of the crash of clouds and the sound of life,

i am waiting for the thunder

and the rain

and all the joy of life.

i've been waiting for days now.

days, weeks, months,

years,

as long as i can remember.

i've been waiting and waiting,

waiting and wanting,

wanting so much it hurts

my throat my head my chest⁠—

the storm has not broken.

it is late, early,

nothing stirs and the world is silent.

the storm has not broken.

(Art: The Dying Monarch, Funtensee, 1884, by Hubert von Herkomer)

Verse and Worse