Sheet
Lightning
by Jonathan
Stull
This is Michael Carey for Voices from the Prairie a weekly sampling from the rich soil of Iowa’s literary tradition. Today’s poem is "Sheet Lightning" by Jonathan Stull. For many of us thunder and lightening are signals that it is time to turn away and to turn our attention indoors. But for those who keep their hearts open and their eyes looking upward the heavens have many beautiful mysteries for us to get caught up in and explore.
Sheet Lightning
When you see the sheet
lightning
do not listen, or wait for the air
to swell with rain,
instead, watch the clouds come
gliding down between the houses and
touch the dark clapboards in sleep.
Like so many faces of the dead
knotted together in time,
and dressed in smoky gowns of light,
the clouds signal the eye skyward
as they brush along the eaves,
and stare into the windows below.
Trust the gray faces whispering
your name beyond the glass, calling you
to waken and rise from sleep
And only if your answer is yes
will the windows open to these angels,
their hearts pounding with thunder,
their wings beating wildly with light.
"Sheet Lightning" by Jonathan Stull from his book Singing
the Lake’s Desire published by the University of Northern Iowa It can
also be found in Voices on the Landscape published by Loess Hills Books.
For Voices from the Prairie and Humanities Iowa, this is Michael Carey hoping you continue to hear the music blooming all around you.
Biography
Jonathan Stull lives in Cedar Falls with his wife Penny and son Dylan. He teaches English at Waterloo East High School and the University of Northern Iowa where he is a member of the Graduate Faculty in Creative Writing. For the last seven years Mr. Stull has been a "Poet-in-the- Schools," for the Des Moines National Poetry Festival.