STORM CLOUDS ARE BREWING

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STORM CLOUDS ARE BREWING* 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The evening news lulls me into a nightmarish sleep. 

In the distance ominous, greenish-colored storm clouds are brewing. I hear the rolling thunder of division and dissonance. On the horizon I see lightning bolts igniting fiery hatred. The storm rolls in.  Muscular columns of darkened clouds and densely pelting rain march in indomitable columns across the landscape shredding it under the weight of the storm. A deep-throated thunder seizes everything within its reach shaking it with invisible hands. 

I smell destruction. 

I see faces touched by desperation and hopelessness, their spirits crushed. I witness nation rising against nation, kingdom against kingdom. Cities turn to rubble. Bodies lay scattered about, the halo of violence lingering over the land.  I’m told these things must happen. “There’s always another storm,” they say. “That’s the way the world works—snowstorms, rainstorms, firestorms, and war.” Some are fierce. Others are small, merely squalls and skirmishes. 

I awaken with a start. 

What if tomorrow vanishes in the storm? What if time stands still? And yesterday, if once we lost our way, blunder in the storm? Will we find yesterday again ahead of us where we thought tomorrow’s sun would rise? 

storm clouds are brewing
angry wind slows then changes
winds of change blowing

*Note: This poem was first published at Story Circle Network’s One Woman’s Day blog, August 14, 2023 (storycircle.org/august-14-storm-clouds-are-brewing-a-haibun/) This is my original poem.

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Ryan Geoffrey Hayward

Date: 8/17/2025 5:37:00 AM

God did say these things will always happen and the climate change may be the beginning of Armageddon, but obviously we don't know. Man-kind's destruction of the world plays a part. Love the imagery here and you are certainly a word-sleuth, Sara. Love the foreboding before the destruction. Its harrowing but all too true.

Valsa George

Date: 8/17/2025 5:14:00 AM

Our world is turning turbulent. There is drastic change in the climate. Thunderstorms and rain clouds can batter our earth any time. Natural calamities come in a row. Storms of hatred and discrimination also loom large. Wars and violence shake the very foundation of life. People fall dead by the hands of fellow men. Everywhere we witness a storm brewing. As ever, your haibuns are so powerful, dear Sara.