In The Storm's Eye

So hot and humid we hardly
cared to shrug on raincoats. As
though to defy nature we blithely
took little note of the menacingly
bruised clouds scuttling the sky;
no awkward nuisance of a weather
front would put us off... And it did 
not. Not when we came abreast of
that old tree we'd long known to have stood
beside the creek and the bridge crossing
it, now twisted and hurled impossibly from
one bank to the other, foliage a sad
tumble of awry green surprise. Not
as the wind picked up action quite
measurably, swooping over the canopy
of stressed leaves and branches, nor
when, as happened, our boots slithered
in the mire and muck of a forest floor
drenched beyond absorbent capacity.
In the thick of the woods, trunks
gnashed one another, branches
tangled in frustrated misery, sending
seed pods on our hurrying heads. Thunder
boldly approached, bellowing warning
of impending saturation. Soon enough
the clash of rain against the forest
signalled arrival, as darkness captured
the woods and us in a furious torrent.