Storm of Colours (Science poem)

When lightning ionizes all the gasses in the air

then what was frightening becomes something

joyful to behold.

Then thunder bolts of many colours suddenly appear;

pretty zig-zags; red and orange, blue and green

and gold.

And, ground up by the mortar and the pestle of the storm,

nitrogen is turned to nitrates

that scatter with showers.

That’s why, after the thunder’s boom, when the sun’s bright and warm

the grass seems, somehow, greener;

somewhat brighter, all the flowers.