An Indomitable Grace

I know what it sounds like
when lightning strikes mere yards away,
the way my hair rises
and my skin prickles
and my body crouches before
I know why

I know the explosion of fireworks
the sound of rockets
ushering in a light display,
and we’re on the precipice of safety

I know the eruption of emotion
when Mom was fed up,
the stream of fury that rolled out of her,
sitting heavy around us, mustard gas,
freezing me in my tracks, choking

My anger is not a punishment,
Zeus can rain down his lightning,
mythos of an angry god.

I am no god, no saint,
my anger as willful as any storm,
the outcome of weather patterns.