Early Saturday morning we were woken by a storm that was obviously making a bee line for our house. After a monumental crack of thunder and simultaneous flash of lightning, we lost power. When it was restored, we found that the internet connection was burnt out. We’re still waiting to be reconnected but in the interim have been loaned a gadget that hooks us up via wifi. No internet meant lots of writing, so here’s a haibun just to say, I’m back!
Sea bird, with worlds of ocean in yellow eyes, hangs in the stormy air between grey cloud and grey waves. Is it tomorrow it sees beyond the darkness, a limpid blue, sculpted sea mists and foam? Is that water titan, those twisted muscles of alien element, a maternal cradle to one whose eyes are filled with sunlight and the glint of silver fish scales caught in the moving depths? I hold out my hand to the wind and catch a breath of salt. The titan whispers, there is peace in this tumult. Listen to the laughter of the gull.
Rain in torrents pours—
the sharp snap of thunder-thread
breaking blinds my eyes.
Jane Dougherty Writes 
The energy of the storm and the calm within it are so well captured here, Jane! Glad you had the thrill of going through and coming out the other side 🙂
I’m not sure it’s all over yet, Jilly. We’ve had far too many violent storms and high temperatures this year to hope we’re going to get through the hot months without bout of violent weather.
That is what our summers are like here every year. I harness the energy into wildness of words and ride high! Hope you come away with your power/internet intact!
I don’t envy you! I’m longing for a bit of calm 🙂
Am I too short-sighted to see the sea bird in the picture? Which is swell, by the way.
Thank you 🙂 No, there isn’t a bird in the picture, Peter. The gulls had settled further down towards the estuary, but the photo was taken between two rounds of storms, so it was appropriate 🙂
Love the current structure in the water with the sun glistening in it. Smetana would re-compose his Vltava on seeing this 😉
The play of light on water is lovely 🙂 And the Garonne is a majestic river.
Bienvenue en France profonde 😉
You got the storms just after us, I think. Any damage round your way?
Fortunately, having made my whistle-stop tour of Cantal at the end of last week to check on various things I drove to England on Friday. I am safely ensconced with Mother and haven’t had any ill-tidings on the jungle drums from either Cantal or Grenoble. But thank you for asking and I hope you are back to normal quickly. I remember when I moved to Champs, two ladies (one of whom has since died) told me that whatever else I took on board in advice, to absolutely NEVER leave my Orange box plugged in if I heard thunder. I ignored her and learned the hard way … story of my life!
Ah, that sounds like good advice. We’ve got one of those plugs that are supposed to protect the computer from storm damage. We got it after we lost a computer during a storm in Laon. I won’t trust it again.
From what I have heard, it was quite the mighty tempest but I think as irritating as it is (Cantal has one of the highest incidences of lightning storms in France) that sitting demurely with a candle and a book is the best Defence!
I’ll bear that in mind!
…sharp snap of thunder-thread – I love that line. Glad you made it through the storm all right.
Thanks Betty! I’ve don’t remember experiencing that before, hearing the discharge of electricity that knocked out the power. It was like a very heavy, very taut steel cable snapping about six inches above the roof.
I heard it–amazing and scary.
The elements are scary. We might be dangerous, but we’re puny too.
Yes. True.
🙂
Welcome back, Jane! This is wonderful. Even your prose is rich and rhythmic like poetry. Thunder and storms are always exciting. I experience them a lot, it’s pretty fun when the maximum damage can do is only damaging electric lines!
Thanks, Jeren! I know, we have a low threshold when it comes to natural disasters 🙂 Power down, flooding here and there (like our cellar again) and we think it’s the end of the world!
Yes, it does make us feel that way, still it’s very exciting!
I love storms. I’d love them even more if I didn’t have a household full of animals that go crazy when it thunders and lightens.
Oh I can understand that. It’s bad when we have to worry about animals.
It’s even worse that it stops me sleeping 🙂
I like the wildness, the calm, and the wise titan–and of course, the laughing gull. 😉
One of the fishmongers on the market here is called The Laughing Gull 🙂
🙂