The storm clouds rolled in
to the mountain where I waited patiently for a kiss from you,
mad strings of a bewitched violin
and soft piano keys whispering to me, the gentle winds
before the rage of the storm took over,
an orchestra in the middle of a hurricane.
Yet here I stay, waiting patiently;
my love, a harmonious flute,
blending with heat and thunder
in the hush between lightning and the angels’ cry.
A melody, supernatural.
I’ll wait for you
until you, my darling,
hear my ballads cry.
Inspiration Note
This poem was inspired by Vale of St. Thomas, Jamaica (1867) by Frederic Edwin Church, a breathtaking painting I first saw at the Wadsworth Atheneum. The original artwork’s sweeping, stormy landscape stirred something in me — a quiet yearning, a romantic stillness before the chaos of emotion. I reimagined that feeling through a Southern, supernatural lens and used AI to help visualize what I saw in my mind: a beautiful Black woman in a soft pastel dress, standing at the edge of a storm, waiting.
The image was generated with AI to reflect the poem’s tone — sensual, patient, and touched by thunder and melody.
