Poems in May

5/20/14
Wisconsin Tornado

One day the sky felt sick
the gray bellies of the clouds roiled
and the air was an unhealthy green,
clustered heavy and close to the ground
panting and low.
Inadvertently I crouched,
running for the truck,
the handle sticky with the sweat of summer,
dropping heavy onto the windshield
as we raced the wind toward home.

5/21/14
Red Rain

She was lost
standing in the torrent of water
that fell
camouflaging her tears
the pain in her body
in her mind
at the breaking point
staring at the floor
watching beads of water
pool like mercury
racing for the drain
and her thoughts
swirling in red rivers
through the holes in her life.

5/22/14
An Ordinary Evening

My toenails are blue,
and they shine out of the dirty water
as I take the soapy scrub brush
and smell the wet dirt
as I scour the stairs
and sweep the water toward the bottom stair
across the turf green of the indoor/outdoor carpeting
and listen to the neighbors
watching a game on TV
on an ordinary evening.