How I Wish It Would Thunder

How I wish it would thunder
And the skies darken over
Letting loose an enormous downpour
Of truly torrential rain;
To hear that restless rumble
First overhead, then afar,
Growing steadily fainter
As the sky becomes brighter. 
False fear falls to real relief
When you know it's all over.
How I wish this damn drizzle
Of mournful mist would cease;
Neither more nor less water
Would fall in a great storm,
But this lasts so much longer
As we all wait to smile again.
No-one screams, no-one worries,
No-one runs for shelter in doorways ,
And there are no children's noses
Pressed firmly against window panes,
Nor eyes blinking at lightning,
Or watching skies brightening,
Gazing in wonder.
How I wish it would thunder. 

2 January 1973, Alloa, Scotland