Lines for a summer thunderstorm

Distant thunder. A common wood satyr clings to the screen.

A close lightning strike & a second later, raindrops, the bleating of a fawn.

Through sheets of rain at the edge of the meadow, the dim outline of a doe.

Rain presses on the horizontal leaves: a random fluttering.

As I watch the storm, a fly with quivering wings explores my pants leg.

The lightning past, the fawn stands on its hind legs & bats at a low branch.

Towhee Towhee Towhee Towhee Towhee Towhee all through the downpour.

Their one day ends in prostration — orange daylilies.

The sky brightens, but the storm’s darkness lingers in rain-soaked leaves.