Of thunderstorm and tears

· by · in dVerse, poetry. ·

You mask penumbra
in a voice — laced
with bitter taste of
pending thunderstorms.

I try to whisper words of green
and honeysuckle songs
to sooth your mind

as electric scents increase
bloom and build
you explode in vitriol
burning bruises deep inside.

Despite my better self
I respond – not to sooth
but with stinging arrow words
meant to hurt.

Words of thunder
are exchanged, hurled in anger
we like Thor fight the massive
clouds of air between

and with the demons of my words
I’m nauseous from the putrid
reek of what I said,

until at last you start to cry
ice-tears quenching fires
and once again –

it’s over – we embrace
linger, maybe even laugh.

The scars of words will stay
and itch until they open up
to flare and rip apart
when history repeats itself
again, again.

it’s the thickness of our skin
that makes us strong enough
to stay and fight again.

The Oxbow
Thomas Cole

Today Grace hosts dVerse MTB with a prompt on synesthesia. The first time I heard of it was a prompt by Victoria in 2013, and we have had it many times since. I decided to revisit the poem I wrote back then and rewrite it a bit.

June 26, 2025

19 responses to “Of thunderstorm and tears”

  1. I can feel the anger and Thor fight of that words of thunder. But I like the reconciliation, maybe temporary for now like a truce of war. Still history happens again and again. I hope we learn something from the past. The scars remain sadly.

  3. When I’m alone, my voice is godly, but get me out with other humans and it’s a farty fluegelhorn of miscues and bumbles. Thank Thor for tough skin.

  5. “and with the demons of my wordsI’m nauseous from the putridreek of what I said,”

    nice one

    much♡love

  8. It is a difficult thing to explode and then forgive and make up only to do it again and again. In many cases it does not work well. Cutting words, carelessly said, soon chop down the whole tree!! Well done.

  11. Björn, your poem beautifully captures the duality of vulnerability and strength – how the pain inflicted by words can leave lasting scars, but also contribute to the development of our inner strength 🙌

  12. I hope that poor guy can break this pattern. Women who do it find it demeaning and spend the next day or two being unproductive at work, draining their friends’ energy, and persuading everyone they know to agree that they should dump that no-good man!

    Alternatively, he could become an Anger Buster, refuse to speak angrily, and give in at the first sign that a fight might be brewing. This can have two results: she’ll become obviously abusive and he’ll leave her, or they’ll be able to stop fighting and stay together like grown-ups. (When a man consistently sacrifices having his own way and “being right” for the sake of peace, a woman worth keeping will start doing those things too. There may be some tests and paybacks at first, but ultimately the outcome will be peace.)

  15. Your poem feels incredibly “real”, I taste those words, hear them, try to digest them. Too many of them impossible to move past. A great write, Bjorn.

  17. I’ve been away from blogging during a cloistered season…but yours was one of the sites I immediately subscribed to again. I see you are still 5-Star…beautiful writing, Sir.

  18. I can relate to these words you wrote:

    (and with the demons of my words
    I’m nauseous from the putrid
    reek of what I said,)

    I know exactly how this feels. I’ve experience this myself many times. And guess what? I feel exhausted and tired of fighting with words and being angry. In the end, I just give up, and I give up trying to win. Hope I interpret the poem correctly. It’s what I got from it and understood. Not unless it has a double meaning.

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