From Oakland
Came the warning of the end—
But heedless,
Charmed by the freedom
Of a Saturday morning in May,
I sought the black earth
And the blue sky of Idaho—
Only on the return did I
Finally envision
The forecast apocalypse:

As I rose from the Malad,
Climbing south,
Up and out from the Rocky Ford,
Westward there in Emigrant Canyon:
The finger of God.

Steely-grey, ominously extending
Earthward from a raging sky,
A well-defined, narrow,
Spinning funnel—
My first tornado:

Heaven, reaching earthward
In selective destruction,
And I in its path--
A meager dozen miles
From my mountain home.

05/22/2011

Author's Note: Not here, not in Northern Utah, but I saw it: just after noon on Saturday May 21st 2011.

Posted on 05/23/2011
Copyright © 2025 Leonard M Hawkes