Tornadoes and floods wreak havoc

two views--the same twister:
"Couldn't-see-anything rain,"
"It was a white sheet."
~~~

96-year old
sent back to the schoolhouse
nursing home flooded
~~~

"May I have these, please?"
"My only pair of houseshoes?"
"You don't have a house."
~~~

neighbor helps neighbor
friend pulls friend from the rubble
smell of lumber yard
~~~

stricken mayor
"Hadn't cried in 50 years
till I saw the flood"
~~~

older man gives up
"Don't have the strength to rebuild
. . . or the time."
~~~

leaving the compound
for higher, drier ground
red ants and inmates
~~~

through the flooded street
a man and his dog riding
the rescue truck
~~~

a tornado
razes downtown instantly
raising takes longer
~~~

effects of storms
never fully disappear
a limp, a cry, dreams . . .
~~~

c 2012 by Pat Laster dba lovepat press