Storms

In storms we looked out,
forbidding days, when we lit lamps
in the middle of the afternoon,
and wondered about those we loved.

Some of us needed more from life
than to merely be passengers
on this journey, and rode out
even when the wind tried to throw them.

Some of us pretended
that nothing ever would happen
to any of us, sometimes out of love,
sometimes from a kind of despair.

But we all knew enough, those of us
who could bear the thought,
that it is a mystery why some are taken,
and some left to pick up the pieces.

For all we know, God sent the storms
to spite us for our sins — but some of us
hear the whisper of His love,
even when the wind howls.