This poem was written outside the regular prompt calls. It fills the "thunderstorm" square in my 8-1-21 card for the Hot Summer Writes Bingo fest. It has been sponsored by a pool with fuzzyred , ng_moonmoth , janetmiles , and edorfaus . "Summer Thunder" For days the warm damp air tosses and turns, thunder grumbling in the distance. Clouds cluster into gray tufts and rain falls in golden veils, only to evaporate before it ever touches the ground. In the evenings, heat lightning flickers in pink and orange along the far horizon. Finally one morning the rain deigns to touch down, a deluge forming puddles and filling ponds. Thunder crashes and cracks right overhead as the clouds tumble into each other and lightning sparks at the edges. Drops of water drip down from the leaves and twigs, catching the light as they fall. The thirsty ground drinks in every drop, cracks sighing closed as the soil darkens and stretches. Frogs and toads begin singing in the rain, aquatic courtship. Summer thunder brings everything to life.