Tornado Quatrains

Joplin Missouri, May 22nd, 2011

The tornado didn't go through my house.
The tornado didn't kill my loved ones,
but in spite of my physical safety
the tornado twisted my soul.

I took shelter in my mother's room.
I had taken shelter countless times before.
When the "all clear" sounded, I went outside.
Everything seemed fine, but the sky was red.

Phone calls came before I knew what happened.
"Of course I'm okay," I answered.
"You must be exaggerating," I thought.
But I understood when I saw the photos.

My father stood at the devastated street
where his parents lived since before I was alive.
He prepared himself to discover the worst—
but my grandfather still had a couple years left in him.