preparations unsteadied
by visions of embedded tornadoes
cars floating riderless toward
what remains of the house
after two 75 foot trees
made "living room" ironic
cut to helicopter shot
in daredevil fashion over
fast-moving brown water
zoom to daughter floating,
precarious,
clutching a bedroom door
as debris took aim at her
from side street tributaries
or just another storm
highly anticipated
like a Pope's visit,
Presidential campaign stop,
a small town turned movie set
with light trucks
& generators
& two trailers,
one for the leading man
& one for the storm effects crew
bank of processors,
a lone free-lance reporter
feigning interest
in the ludicrous plot
despite the gathered throng
five hundred mile-wide scene
shot with the myopia
of growing fear
howling with false alarm
or impending mayhem,
fed equally by meteorology
& astrology,
sirens marking horrors
just over the horizon,
action scenes
visited upon strangers,
future lovers
& directors now unavailable
to shoot your rescue scene
Just before the fadeout
salvation & ruin,
plausible prequels & flashbacks,
in which the present
is revealed as the frail charter
it had always been