What Remained They tip toe through my dreams Rain soaked, looking angry After tossing and turning Noticing small details Suddenly, the penny dropped Like lightning flashing Understanding their loss Counting sheep backwards to wake Energy loss wandering through my mind Nothing made sense, The terror we made… ©AnitaDawes2022
Thunder woke my sleep Lightning turned my room translucent As if I were dreaming There is order in the world I am told I freeze, this is different There in the light I could see forms, people Are they on a journey? passing through our world? Guided by the power of lightening I search their faces, wondering If there could be someone I know It is spellbinding, I am drawn to them They are pointing north, as if trying to tell me something So much in a flash of lightning I took it to be a sacred moment If it is something I am meant to know It will come to me… ©AnitaDawes2022
When I tell you the great redwood Is white as snow, a ghost Don’t call me crazy When lightning strikes the ground And angels wings can be found Don’t call me crazy When I tell you I see Merlin’s face in the cloud Don’t call me crazy Arthur stands with sword in hand Where lightning is found Don’t call me crazy When the Lady of the Lake Calls the light of the world to her hand don’t call me crazy she had in mind a world renewed old magic recalled don’t call me crazy find an angels ring, wear it well your life now stands beside the tree reborn, your thoughts with me don’t call me crazy I wear the ring by lightning made I walk with angels when day is done Don’t call me crazy Like the tree, they live inside out The ring I found Keeps me from going crazy… ©AnitaDawes2022
One winter after the snow had fallen
Out at sea, thunder, and lightning raged
Telling of my coming.
Angels whisper of my birth
When magic ruled the land
And folk prayed, standing by the stones
Before they knew about the darkness to come
The pain that would follow them
through their lives, devastating families
Stepping between those that love
Turning love back on them,
tearing bits from each other
They become as walking lepers,
without the bell to ring
They are swallowed by despair
It’s the beloved he is after.
My training in the dark arts almost complete
I will be let loose on the unsuspecting fools
Take all they have accrued
This will continue
until one is born with the power of light
The kind that can destroy the likes of my dark ways.
His day is coming…
© Anita Dawes 2021
The grounds beneath the thunder began to shake
The man fell to his knees
In the open, he began to pray
The odds of a lightning chase
Were too large to number.
His knees sank into the rain soaked ground
Dishevelled, time marched by
In a stat of fear, he tried to count his blessings,
the bounty that lay before him
His mind twisted with fear, he could see none of it
The dark wick at the back of his mind, flared
He remembered his pills
On the soak filled ground, he blessed the peace
The little white pills would bring
Within a minute, he could say let the thunder roar,
the lightning crash, he can stand now!
the cold material of his trousers clinging to his legs
the searing pain as lightning struck his back…
© Anita Dawes 2021
Dark grey clouds hover above my head
Like steel girders waiting to plummet
The jagged face of lightning screaming
Ice cold balls hit the ground
As if shot from a cannon
I run; I will not become a target for giant balls of ice
Windscreens crack, Jack Frost’s paintings linger
On dented bonnets, roofs
An invisible giant walked across parked cars
Their owners become the victims
Of the Hand of God
Only these are not leather footballs
In what was meant to be a friendly match
This hand has vengeance in its palm
Its aim of an Olympian aiming for gold
I take shelter in a nearby shop
Watching the carnage
Wondering if a giant golfer is aiming for a hole in one
I felt lucky, I didn’t own a car
Or one of those houses with a hole in its roof
I’m a visitor, passing through
Knowing the weather will calm soon enough
Leaving blue skies kissed by a rainbow…
Words on Paper 