Before the Hurricane

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