Comes the thunder...

Stark strobe, flash of light, an instant etched in memory;
Fearful faces at odds with thin smiles,
Tall towers of quivering glass;
Swiftly swallow the vision, comforting darkness;

Boiling, blackened sky, augury of a thunderclap,
Humanity's heavy bones to shake;
Again a silent lightning flash,
Revealing raw features... counting... bracing... counting;