Monsoon Storm – Response poem

 

A summer day
Sweltering, hot and sticky
The season
Ending soon
The sun shining
After weekend storm
Trees tumbled over
Walls crumbled down
Cleanup has begun
Poet responds
Wishing for fall
And a chill wind

 

On Friday August 11, I was sitting in my bedroom reading a book – The Winter Horses by Philip Kerr. On vacation in Germany, I went into the bookstore at Dachau and bought a book. It’s about a young Russian girl hiding from German soldiers with Przewalski horses. As I was reading, I heard a crack. Look out the window and even though it is dark, it appears as if the tree is touching the driveway. I go out and investigate. It is touching the driveway. Rachael comes out and we both hear more cracking. So yes, I call my husband in a panic because I don’t want the tree damaging the house. He came home and did some trimming at 11pm Friday night.

In the wee hours of Saturday morning we all awoke to wind and rain. Our neighborhood was right under a microburst. August 12 was the fall kickoff for the ACE program at EMCC. As we were driving to the college, we saw toppled trees and even walls. We were fortunate that the palo verde in the front yard did not suffer any more damage. I was thankful Shawn did some trimming before the storm. Though he is skeptical it is what kept our tree standing. Across the street one family had a tree fall into their bedroom. I think it could have been us too.

Yesterday I read Benita’s Reply poem and thought of the response of summer vs. spring. And because my wedding anniversary and birthday happen in the fall, it is my favorite season. Not to mention between the rain and thunderstorms delaying my flight back home at the beginning of the month and now the cleanup we have to do with the latest round of storms, I’m done with summer.

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