TEMPEST

A solitary raven's funeral chant

swallows the rainbow.

Summer smiles, a sage witness

through the ages to Life's

zeniths and nadirs. This lightning

shift dismays man alone,  

these pied skies that herald the

heavens' mounting rage.

In the distance, the grim aggressor

roars, his grey acolytes

in sullen attendance, resolved to

plunge Summer's splendour

into pewter scum. Now, the irate

beast and his iron-grey

phalanx burst free of the welkin's

confines, too long billeted

in brilliant bastions.

The weary wind retreats into green

fortresses, as leaden lintels

splinter. Liquid Night descends upon

Nature, draping the green,

blanching her bright beauty, its cold 

sharp burn like knives of ice.

Earth's tenderness alone shall quiet

such rage. Upon her bosom shall

it learn the sacred way of the Waters.

© 2015 Lily's Verse

Lilium Candidum

Image: THE RAINBOW

Source: commons.wikimedia.org

Artist: George Inness