Springtime In Southern Indiana

winds, rain, & hail

all of it adds up to
absolute hell
those in the path
scurry like roaches
when the light comes on
desperate for safety
longing for cover

Quick to the basement
got the candles
flashlight-radio-smokes
dog-cat-hamster
here in shelter
all is ok
cards to help
pass the time away

Turn on the TV,
what do those in the know
the forecasters, the predictors
have to say about Mother Nature
and the games she plays?

On every channel
each and every station
all the weather guessers warn:
Get The Children To Safety
while the power is still on.

So I take my boys,
One so young, the other even younger
down to the cellar to wait
out the storm.
One is bored;
"Why can't I watch the rain?"
The other is scared;
"What if we hear a freight train?"

I have to keep them calm,
steady & stable
so that in the future
they can be here when I'm gone,
to protect their own
from the absolute hell of the

winds, rain, & hail.

*

Written in combination with my son, Timothy