Benediction

Phillip Brown

As I reached the meadow,
as I stepped out
into that quivering sea
of grass,
the storm fell silent

but the lightning
echoed on, flaring
intermittently through the dark clouds
like a bright pulse,
an incandescent shudder.

Standing below,
I closed my eyes
and exhaled.

It was then
the rain began,
again, to fall-

cold and heavy as it dropped
onto my forehead,
eyelids,
lips-

and I tasted thunder on my tongue
as I spoke my new name.