Within the Storm – A Poem

The sky is a green so deep

that it reminds me

of the ocean when

a storm hits. I wonder

if the sky will swallow us

and what will be left after.

When I look at his face,

I see the same emotions

that have filled me up

to the point where it feels

like I will break.

They are running under his skin

and his eyes are filled with worry

just as mine are filled with fear.

We both listen to the wind

as it begins to scream around us,

voicing what the world feels

but has been unable to articulate.

I carry an open wound within me,

one that keeps being torn open

with each passing day

and each new horror the world provides.

We cower further inside,

trying to find protection and solace

as the winds increase

and I wonder that it can make

such a sound, one that defies

what words mean

but perfectly describes

what is happening.

On the television,

we watch the stories

of war that is taking place,

people being gunned down,

children dying for no reason

except that one man owned a gun.

The news we hear doesn’t bring comfort,

only a world filled

with gunfire and bloodshed.

With each day,

the wind that is whipping around us

increases until, with a loud snap,

the world is filled with water.

I watch as the green of the skies

fills the air and the clouds themselves

become a liquid darkness.

The heavens are weeping.

I wonder if the world itself

is crying for the innocence

that it has lost or for what

it has become.

We are holding hands

when the power goes out.

All I can hear is the water

as it lashes at the windows,

the sound of our breathing

and the tattoo of our hearts

seeming to keep time

with the rain.