Missing the Relief and What Brought the Need for Relief

Here in California
I miss lightnings and thunderstorms
And the blessed relief they brought
When they arrived on cue
While I was a little girl lying sunburnt in bed in Boston
Hours after the sun set on hot summer days.

A wet cool breeze would suddenly rise up
And reach through the open windows.
The bedroom curtains would start to twitch.
And the venetian blinds would clank a little, restively.
Then, ah! A crack of lightning and a crash of thunder
Would herald a gush of rain.

The sodden heat would wash down through the grates in the gutters
Splash through the drains on the way to the harbor
Flow past the beach where we'd played the days away among the mild waves
Finally to drift away among those nasty jellyfish
Where they hid out at night and let their stinging tendrils down into the dark deep depths of the pacific Atlantic
And then I'd be able to sleep.