Get Real

from one who can't
afford
$150,000.00 on clothes
or lobster dinners:

get real.

try living on
next to
nothing or deciding if food more important
than paying bills:

get real.

Veterans should
not be
living on the streets and neither should the children --
in America:

get real.

Get down in the
dirt where
the real people are scrabbling hand to mouth in a
world gone horribly wrong:

get REAL.

(c) 2008, Karla Dorman

Disturbing the Peace

... was that thunder? [The
sudden dropped sound heard
bouncing through hallowed
shushed, book-lined shelves: the
one the library
lady snaps at to
"Be quiet!" Eyes look
around, searching for
the guilty party:
it isn't me. I'm
on the Internet.
The offending one
will not admit --- there
it is, again.] Yes.
Thunder. [Didn't Mom
say we were supposed
to be like church mice?
She's not practicing
what she's preaching: I
ain't gonna tell her.]

(c) 2008, Karla Dorman

Listen To The Rhythm of the Falling Rain ...

It sounded like the sky fell, the
way it avalanched through the roof and
into the room. The walls, bleached
pale, bowed out, snapped back, as
did my ears. Forgot what thunder
sounded like: been a while since
we've had rain. RAIN. Rolled over,
closed my eyes, went back to sleep.

(c) 2008, Karla Dorman.

Sewing It Up

... zigzag stitching around the
eyewall unravels with a
giggle of thunder. The clouds
unleash their stuffing which falls

in a flood of frustration.
Scissors of wind snip away
at my nerves as fast as I
sew them up: what a mess. Spent

the last six weeks on it. Can't
say I haven't tried: but the
beams are all crooked! The front
of the house is longer than

the back (that was the hard part).
Home-Ec teacher's going to
be mad: this looks nothing at
all like the McCall's pattern ....

(c) 2008, Karla Dorman

Anvil Crawler, OR: One Of A Kind (Original Artwork)

The Creator knew what
He was doing when He
painted storm on sky --
the entire surface was
His canvas, and I, the
one who watched Him
working.
He pulled lightning from
the top of the anvil and
s.crawled His Name in
silver: He gave the print
to me to hang in my room,
a present from the Master.

(c) 2008, Karla Dorman

Why I Had To Do It

... hear the wind picking up. A mutter of thunder. Look
out of the apartment, what do I see? A madswirl of
gathering forces, pointing into a funnel --- ohhhhh,
dang. So do I do what smart people do, head
for shelter? Nope --- grab the camera. And
twin sis screams, "What are you doing?!?"
as I take the last two images of what may
be my undoing. She yells: "G E T.
In. This. House. Right. NOW!!"
Me: "Just one more picture!"
She is f u r i o u s, wanting
to wrap crutches around
my neck. But I get the
pictures I wanted:
see, it's like this
--- you can take
the girl out of
the chaser
but not
the
chaser out of the girl. Have to face my fear sometime.

(c) 2008, Karla Dorman

Delete, Delete, Delete [Trying To Capture Lightning On Film]

... the trials of trying to capture
lightning: camera poised and
ready. Click and shoot, shoot
--- missed. Time delay did not
time to flash. Try again. Miss.

Again. Miss! Delete, delete:
well, of course, a pretty anvil
crawler crawls across the sky
while deleting. Okay. This one
I'll --- nope. M i s s e d. Will sit

here forever, have the patience
of Job --- oh! Got one! Thank
You, Lord (even though it was
just a bright behind-the-cloud,
lovely just the same). Let's get

another. Miss. MISS! Grrrrrrr:
delete, delete (how many have
I taken? Least a hundred). Just
one OH! Got it: a teeny, tiny
spider spinning its web from

right to left --- let me have one
more --- m i s s e d. Miss. Aww,
nuts: batteries died (why don't
they last as long as it took to
charge the durn things?). The

life of a StormSpinner trying to
chase lightning, get it on film,
wondering why my images do
not compare with other chasers
who make it look effortless ...

delete. Delete. Delete: dang.
Erased all but five. Next storm
comes, you'll find me out in the
elements, trying one more time
... really need a new camera.

(c) 2008, Karla Dorman