brain storms

I'm taking a class about getting around writer's block. Last week's lesson was about brainstorming.

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brainstorm

brain storm

write about storms

wind, wet slashing down, thunder

I should not be out playing

on a hillside

during a lightening storm

what do I remember about storms

on summer afternoons in the mountains?

the thunderheads, white clouds turning dark,

the intensity of that summer sun,

intense color, deep blue sky

I haven’t seen that color in decades

not since riding my horse

galloping across columbine-laced meadow

riding ornery Goldie was something

of a storm in itself

storms

snowstorms are my favorite

dramatic in such a silent way

silent drama

like an ASL signed

play in three acts

Deaf Theatre

silent drama

the drama of gay kids,

their pain silenced

ignored

until they die long before they should

so much talent and love and hope

wasted and gone

kids should not be dying

write about storms, huh?

Did I ever see a thunderstorm

boil across Lake Superior

and slash the dorm windows with rain?

Did I ever dance

in the dewdrop sweetness

of early morning at Cedar Lake?

I remember hanging with the dogs 

one early morning,

when those kids were

shooting that soft porn film

“Move your shorts so we can see your buns. Melody.

You have reeeally nice buns; I think it will be allllright.”

That kid,

the one with the camera,

the only male

(an important observation

when watching half-naked women

and men with cameras

and directorial aspirations)

that kid said that a lot, “allllright”.

So mellow and pretend-gentle

for someone shooting porn.

I might call it erotica

if he hadn’t told one of the women

to pretend to drown…

“put your face in the water and your butt in the air”

two women played like lovers

as they slipped on summer shifts,

translucent, white, long skirts barely covering

tanned wet bodies

I have skinny-dipped in that lake

at night

when the only white was

naked breasts

stomachs

butt cheeks in the star light

some storms are softest of rain

some are pain and blood and thunder

I have seen both
brain storms