Astraphobia

By Madison Boykin

Posted on October 1, 2024

Illustration by: Christina Yan

Illustration title: The Boy and the Cosmos

Medium: Digital Illustration

Size: 2800 pixels x 2580 pixels

Year: 2024

An eerie whoosh is heard in earshot

Like threaded silk the strands inject the surface in a loud BAM

Pellets dart like bullets dropped shot by the gods

The sky is a hazy gray and clouds like lent.

You curl up in a ball as the thunder surrounds you

A mere blanket is not enough protection from the rumbles,

From loud roars and croaks of the whistling wind

Windows burr omit and the structure rattles.

Floorboards creak and rumble underneath you.

As you taste your nails and the saltwater tears

Hear the rumbles simmer down

You finally release an obtuse breath

Your limbs unwind and your body motions you from out of the blanket

The rumbling now faint like simmering water

The storm is over,

At least you are safe and you can breathe.

Description:

The term “astraphobia” refers to a fear of storms or bad weather. The poem is told in second-person and entails the fear of storms in a dramatized manner of someone who experiences this phobia. The poem places the reader in the shoes of a person experiencing a panic through a dialect of panicked words and onomatopoeia expressions.

[Writing Editor: Kimberly Nguyễn]

[The End]