A Storm in the Night

Loud thunder awakens me.
The night, not yet at an end.
Soft light, calm but brooding,
Diffuses from the outside.
The night air, suddenly brilliant with lightning;
My eyelids, no defense.

A high pitched noise far away;
Suspense grips me; I know what is coming.
The boom hits, shaking my window:
The essence of cracking electricity.
Again, the flash and the whining peal.
I steel myself against the storm.

Soon it is over.
Now only rain drops shake my window pane.
Their rythmic patter, soft and low,
Lulls me back to sleep.