One Lost
 
It rained.
For days.
The floods came.
Water stood in fields,
In yards,
On roads.
Roads were closed.
Power was out.
The rain stopped.
The sun shone again.
 
But,
The day was too warm for winter.
“Tornado weather is what this is”
The old folks said.
I saw the FB posts.
Even saw a meteorologist,
Offering up prayers,
For safety.
I heard the warnings on TV.
Finally, fear won.
 
I went,
Anywhere but home,
Scared to be alone.
Where to go?
What to do?
A thrift store?
Is it safe here?
A place to waste a lot of time,
But is this where I would want my time,
On earth to end?

 

With the very bric a brac,
Flying wildly,
Through the air,
That I had stood and held so gently,
In my hand
I set the blue vase carefully back on the shelf and I went,
Back home.
 
Finally,
The radar showed the storms were above us,
And below,
But not near my home.
I breathed a sigh of relief until.
I saw,

A video of a tornado somewhere near.
I heard,
Those dreaded words,
“Tornado on the ground!”
“Downtown Columbus.”

I prayed,
“Lord,
Keep them safe.”
I wondered were there any,
Running,
From their home,
As I had been earlier?
Looking for a place to go,
To be safe,
Not to be alone?
 
Time passed. and I heard,
One had been lost to,
The tornado, now classified as a,
"Deadly tornado"
 
Yes, one life was claimed,
By that tornado,
On that winter’s day,
That was too warm for winter.
 
Only one lost.
But that one was,
Too many.
For she was, someone’s everything.