shelter from the storm

as the trees were bending

the wind was swirling, gusting,
a darkness, an ominous setting i
as a storm was evident

there i sat looking out my window
wondering whether my fear was
justified and how to take shelter
not realizing, forgetting that i was
not alone in this fear

i fear the noise, the banging

of window shutters, the gray then
the dark covering all where but
moments before had been clear and
discernible, seemingly to be forever present

the lilies lavender peddles and rosette

bulbs that stood before me and had
been giving pleasure to mine eyes
now had been blown off only a
denuded stem stood

calm and peaceful stillness besets
the canvass with gentle beauty
but when life’s storm rumbles through
what was once beauty before mine eyes
now only tattered resemblances remain

i think to myself, could I have covered

the lily and rose with shelter if i were not
enthralled in fear, concerned for myself
without consideration of other life
that surrounds my every moment

the storm shall pass and i will be left

with only that which i sheltered then
i realized that if all was taken from me
while distracted by my personal fear,
i would be alone. life can be a storm