All the world awaits the storm.
A sickly tension fills my gut,
So dim and grim. Foreboding what?
The moment pain will come. And in what form.
A soft, gray blanket wraps the sky.
It gusts a bit, but very mild,
And rooves of shingle, rooves of tile,
All shudder, and remember, how it blew
In other storms. But this is new.
An evolution. Five to Six?
Reversing, West to East? Though sticks
May break our bones, winds can erase us, too.
A school day off. A day of rest.
All day, awaiting wind and showers.
Floating isles, in several hours?
The highest-placed will weather this storm best.
So, madly trim and clear debris!
The garbage trucks work overtime,
To clear Helene, to clear her name,
Before she’s outdone, exponentially.
The weather man: a blank-stare face.
A man is sleeping on his boat
In Tampa Bay, tonight. His moat
Is God, who called him hither, to this place.
Would you ride out this storm? For real?
Upon the shore? Then scrawl upon
Your arm in Sharpie, drink till dawn,
And post, on your account, your final meal.
The interstate was full of cars
Just yesterday. They’ve headed North.
The storm, it churns, and spins, and froths,
And soon it will arrive, and stay for hours.
Oh Florida, you naughty child!
You thin peninsula of guilt!
This storm will topple all you’ve built.
Stand in the corner and repent awhile.
For more on hurricanes, read Enough of Hurricanes, Dorian and Beryl (Poem).
The Weatherman
Coincidentally, my daughter texted me not ten minutes ago: Aren’t you glad you don’t live in Florida anymore? I hope there are no deaths with Milton.
Me too.
By the way in the morninglight it looks good here. We got only a few strong winds and rain. The primary concern now is storm surge from the back end of the storm as it exits the state. Our River, the St Johns flows north so the rain dumped, down in central Florida east of Orlando and points north of that, all flows into theSt Johns river basin. That means flooding here. Especially if the hurricane surge and high tide and rain from the South coincide. Its not over till its over, but we definitely got the best case scenario here in Jax. West coast not so much.
Thank you for the update, Andrea.