“Whoever loved that loved not at first sight?”—As You Like It, Shakespeare
In the heart of a rain cloud, converging drafts of static strip off electrons. A positive charge on top and a negative charge on bottom burgeons to a bolt of lightning. Whether in love or not, you have a 0.00653595% chance of being struck by lightning if you live to 80.
A park ranger in Shenandoah National Park, Roy Cleveland Sullivan was struck by lightning seven times, the most recorded by an individual. He was struck while driving his truck, inside his ranger station, once in his front yard, and the rest outdoors. It troubled him that he was avoided by others for fear of a strike in his company.
In serenades of dopamine and serotonin, the brain revels. Matchmaking sites report that 34% of singles claim to have fallen in love at first sight. In the language of intimacy, the French expression for love at first sight is le coup de foudre—which translates as bolt of lightning.
Six years after his last lightning strike, Sullivan died of a self-inflicted gun wound. Numerous accounts report the tragedy was the result of unrequited love.
Philip Arnold is the author of the poetry collection, The Natural History of a Blade (Dos Madres Press, 2019), with poems appearing in Arts & Letters, Iowa Review, Rattle, and Midwest Quarterly. He is the recipient of an Individual Excellence Award (Poetry) from the Ohio Arts Council.