online learning is a thunderstorm
to most people I know,
it is dark and cloudy
my sister’s grades are a part of the rain
in this storm, intelligence doesn’t mean a thing
crashing and falling down
with thunder booming
and shaking
across the sky
carrying the dreaded dinging doorbell
and ominous clacking keys
like claws on a tile floor
we have tried giving her umbrellas
or shelter from the downpour
and covered her ears
but the sounds get louder
the umbrellas are tearing
and the shelters are crumbling
under the heavy weight of isolation
forced upon an extrovert
my friends are getting tense
trying to bargain for sleepovers
the rain contains the workload
the moving
my lack of time
their umbrellas are upside down
filled with the water of my problems
being loaded into their loneliness
and my guilt at being so helpless
against the tide rolling their way
while the booms echo
throughout the empty space
where hamster sleepovers
and nerf gun wars
used to take place
but I am different here
the sun hurts my eyes
and makes me too hot
so when the clouds come along,
i’ll roll up
in an imaginary vehicle
from the books I’ve read
the shows I’ve watched
and the stories in my head
my inspiration comes from the clouds
and the shapes they make
and the sounds of music
that thunder creates
my mind and my soul
have started to wake
my lack of sleep is no more
cleaning gym clothes is less of a chore
the thunder is the music
that pounds through my head
constantly changing
always the same
the rain carries cool, refreshing splashes of relief
that fall upon my introverted face
it moves in different ways
it moves at my pace
a crashing downpour
or a light sprinkle on my face
i control the rain
i’ve made it mine
i’ve stopped the flood
and surfed the tide
i dance under clouds
and skies of gray
while my friends and family
are huddled away
the cold and the wind
blow through the windows
and doors
and into my life
where the blinding sun
is no more