"Lightning in the Desert" by Adam Deutsch

[audio mp3="http://barnstormjournal.org/content/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Lightning-In-The-Desert-2.mp3"][/audio] It could be the papers that knockjust before a fire goes out under dinner.Served. Then the silent flashesare closer than we think. Countyour Mississippis.Make a full stop at every flushing sign,looking east, where they keep storms.Tonight, life is nothing like that one blackout,all candles and generated light,spider webs between roomscollapsed by my body.One day our meticulous spaces will be theirs,and tonight we don’t want anything to die.I try to cup bugs on the wall, slipa card over the mouth, soaring little livesoff the balcony. Crisp winds take them soft.This is nothing like midwest thunder,barreling darkness into itselfor east coast blown-out skies,an army of natural dancersescaping the cageof birthday cake cream. Adam Deutsch lives in San Diego; teaches college composition, literature, and writing; and has work recently or forthcoming in Arsenic Lobster, Thrush, Spinning Jenny, Ping Pong, and Typo. He is the publisher at Cooper Dillon Books and has a chapbook from H_NGM_N Books called Carry On.