A hard, mercurial deluge fell
without warning—queerly luminescent;
a coruscating curtain of radiant silver-green,
torrents tinseling the trees
A formidable downpour, abrupt and ferocious
yet fidgety, urgent and anxious –
panting pale plumes like smoker’s breath
the crashes of rain are legion voices of tempest,
a cataclysmic chorus—the voice
of Armageddon whose torrents pound and pry
in a synchronized sound—a crowd
chanting a mélange of lost languages—not
something for a prudent person to witness
this rataplan of argentine raindrops slip and spill
in liquid rhythm, reflecting the glow of witchy light
—Aurora Borealis painting luminous galaxies
Annette Gagliardi has poetry published in Genre: Urban Arts No. 8- Print, Southwest Journal, Summer & fall 2019, Dreamers Creative Writing Online and in their Year 1 Anthology, Down in the Dirt Online Magazine, Trouble Among the Stars, Issue#2, Poetry Quarterly, the Poetic Bond VIII & IX. She has work in the League of Minnesota’s The Moccasin, the South Dakota State Poetry Society’s Pasque Petals and in Arizona State Poetry Society’s Sandpiper. Annette is a contributor and one of two editors for the anthology, Upon Waking: 58 Voices Speaking Out from the Shadow of Abuse. She is passionate about chocolate, loves gardening, serving tea, and serving chocolate tea in her garden.