I'm Afraid of Weather by James Navé

Weather sometimes frightens me 
when I'm on the road heading west 
out of Oklahoma City, late afternoon, 
500 miles behind me, the sun easy 
on my face. Weather, harsh weather, 
not in sight, out of mind. Then, the dark 
clouds pop up to the south. Mean creatures 
all black and gray, chewing the blue sky 
like a swarm of ferocious large bees 
God invented just to panic me, to turn 
my drive into a long-range shooting field. 
Then, from the west, more clouds appear.
Where do these clouds come from? 
What happened to my day? What happened 
to my blue sky? Where did the sun go? 
Once these monsters start, they don't stop. 
God knows this; God sends them anyway. 
That's just what God does. Soon, the first drops 
of rain hit. Then bolts of lightning flash 
across the sky. I'm surrounded by black 
and lightning and thunder and ice. 
My heart sweats. My eyes grow thin. 
My hands dangle from my wrists. 
Will there be a funnel? Will it suck me 
out of my car and up into the sky? 
I try to drive on but can't; I can't 
move, the storm has captured me. 
I am still. Rain. Wind. Thunder. 
Lightning. And me on the road, 
stopped, going nowhere.

I'm Afraid Of Weather by James Navé

Twice 5 Miles Radio is an hour-long interview show that digs beneath the surface with people with much to say and the courage to say.  The show's title (Twice 5 Miles) comes from lines in Samuel Taylor Coleridge's poem Kubla Khan. 

I am a poet, storyteller, educator, and manuscript coach with an MFA in Writing from Vermont College of Fine Arts. With over 20 years of experience, I’ve taught workshops on writing, creativity, and public speaking worldwide, drawing from a background that includes memorizing 600+ poems and performing poetic storytelling globally.

My latest book, 100 Days: A Poetic Memoir After Cancer, was published by 3: A Taos Press in May 2023. I’ve also co-authored How to Read for an Audience and Write What You Don’t Know: Ten Steps to Writing with Confidence, Energy, and Flow. Through The Imaginative Storm Writing Project, co-created with Allegra Huston, I guide writers to unlock their creativity and craft impactful, dynamic work.

As co-founder of The Artist’s Way Creativity Camp with Julia Cameron, I’ve taught creativity courses for over two decades. Julia describes me as “a quick, curious mind with a humanist eye for poetic detail and an important force for change.”

I’ve also served as director of The Taos Storytelling and Poetry Festivals and host Twice 5 Miles Radio, a podcast broadcast in Asheville and Taos and streamed on SoundCloud.

New tracks tagged #ThunderstruckThoughts