blue curtain of rain

blue curtain of rain

falling to earth, deadly rays 

shooting into space

I fall asleep after reading "Deadly Rays from Clouds," a Scientific American article about how thunderstorms give out powerful blasts of gamma rays and x-rays. For weeks I have been begging for rain, so a thunderstorm would be most welcome, as long as I'm not inside the cloud. At 4:30 am, volleys of thunder wake me. At first I think I'm dreaming, but then I hear the blessed sound of rain. It's been a long, dry spell.
          All day I keep staring at the white apparitions floating in the azure sky, as if I've never seen clouds before. A huge cumulonimbus off to the east trails a curtain of blue rain on a lucky field. Distant thunder reminds me of a startling statement from that article: "Next time you see a tall thundercloud, stop to remember that it is capable of shooting high-energy particles into space that can be detected on the other side of the planet." Life-giving rain falling down, deadly rays shooting up. What a strange world we live in.