summer of signs

as summer comes to its end
bringing forth more chaos
and death

it reminds me of another time
when summer was ending
my best friend was dying of cancer
I was on the brink of divorce
still in denial
that change was coming

those years
when I was still my daughter's world
I was reading her fairytales 
in my bedroom on a summer afternoon
when we heard a cracking
whip of thunder

we went to the window
to stare at the black clouds
when the thunder got louder
I remembered to count
to see how close it was

we saw the red lightning
as we were turning away
to go downstairs
a lightning bolt hit a group of trees
in the yard
a burst of fire
blooming on a branch
one tree split

I took her downstairs
a warning of a lightning storm
was coming through on my phone
we sat on the basement steps
waiting for the noise
to quiet

when he got home
he hadn't even known
about the storm
he looked at me as if 
I ought to be tied
to a hospital bed

from that day on
I looked at that tree
split down the middle
remembering the red lightning
how only me and her saw it

some signs are meant 
for just one person
other signs are meant
for the whole world

this has been the summer of signs
a summer of lost hopes
way more obvious
then red lightning

but still we are at war with reality
pretending that this reality
can be sustained