“June 21, 1987”

by Joshua St. Claire

bottle rockets

how does heat

   become

sound

cumulonimbus downdrafts

oak leaf undersides cumulonimbus

chicory and Queen Anne’s lace

bowing in worship cumulonimbus

whispering to each other

in lightning cumulonimbus baptizing

the land in lightning cumulonimbus

beyond cracked carnival 

glass 

the sky

cicada and

cricket distant

motorcycle

revving

Joshua St. Claire is a CPA who works as a financial controller in Pennsylvania. He enjoys writing poetry on coffee breaks and after putting the kids to bed. His work is published in the Inflectionist Review, Blue Unicorn, Eastern Structures, hedgerow, and Whiptail, among others, and has been nominated twice for the Pushcart Prize.