Tornado

everywhere I went
there were windows

windows

I couldn't escape
tried leaving
drawn back
kept returning

outside
dark clouds gathered
I stopped
gazed transfixed
as the clouds coalesced
into inverted
black spirals

each window the same
darkness
swirling into danger
bearing down on me
from nearby hills

I couldn't get away from the windows

I tried
hiding beneath furniture
but always beside
huge panes of glass

card tables and folding chairs
offered little protection

the instant the glass shattered
I knew I would be
torn apart
my blood spattering
a million shards of glass

soon I realized
my children were with me
I tried to hide them
protect them

we moved from one concrete block room
to another
but everywhere
there were windows

windows

danger threatening
everpresent
outside

suddenly
we were having a party
drinking rootbeer
eating cheese sandwiches
coming out from under
the tables and chairs
pulling up shades
throwing back curtains
sitting on couches
watching the cyclones
like a parade passing by

danger was there
but I had stopped worrying
we would live
or would die
it was beyond my control
we took what we had
and we made the most of it

I knew what I had been doing was pointless

I laughed