The Lost Country

Fall 2014 • Vol. 3, No. 1

issn 2326-5310 (online)

Lines On A Silent Storm

By Mary Jessica Woods

This work was published in the Fall 2014 issue of The Lost Country. You may purchase a copy of this issue from us or, if you prefer, from Amazon.

Silent lightnings flashing forth
From a hazy womb of cloud–
Mute cries of light.
Instant white, bright, flickers of pain,
Momentary scarlet seams,
As if of the anguish of a nebula,
The toil of eons and of primal fire,
Morphed to a moment.
A series of eerie splendors
That rise from the heat-thick dark to glimmer and glower,
To taste the air with quick, crooked snakes’ tongues.
Oh, the silent and hammering light.
Fire born of water,
Vapor-sparked flames,
Beat away at the night.
Your cloud comes not here.