I love African storms.

African Storm

Heat rising like a tidal wave

Clouds gather like an avalanche

Draw me to you like water to earth

And let the storm begin

Warning breath of what I crave

Electricity tenses like a cheetah on a branch

We are nearing the birth

And the air starts to sing

The first flash, followed by a clap

Herald the liquid orbs breaking

Mouths communicate without words

Blood rushing between soil and sky

A silver rip in the velvet heaven

A bullet tears the dark atmosphere

Fingers stampede like wild herds

Sparks fly between you and I

Lightning turns the sky to map

The roots of the old tree are shaking

Wind tears my flat inhibitions away

And I lie willingly exposed

The rain drowns the world of men

Nothing to see, the road is clear

The ancient one has started to sway

Our shadows become the black crow

A sudden silence, the world stops its spin

Hushing in respect of the approach

A streak of true God, the old tree falls

An intake of pure power and we are there

A moment outside, a lifetime within

Set yesterday’s debris on the present to float

The storm follows the Western call

Abruptly leaves the breathless air

Fisted nails release into caring hands

We have fallen off the mountain

And find ourselves in a quiet land

Loving the sun, but waiting for the storm to come again

To kill the dream

So we can live

Alice Kriel