Epistle for Tornado Season
A news response poem
The average tornado has a lifespan of only a few moments, its existence a particular combination of winds, a vortex born of a supercell fueling a spinning column of air. I am on the ground, overcome by the darkness, warned to take cover, to hide. Neon light spashes across the sky, followed by the applause of booming thunder claps, sheets of rain pour down, the wail of the wind wooshing and bending the treetops as if forcing them to bow down. Humid air rises, cool air falls, separate air streams clash in a precipitation-driven downdraft, a horizontal spin by way of horizontal temperature, energy sucked upward. Because wind is invisible, we cannot see the force until the funnel cloud forms, devouring water droplets, dust and debris, sweeping through nearby fields and towns, upending all that we have worked so hard to build. I hear the storm inside of me. The lightning above spells out a command: “Look at the power of the sky.” It tells me to lift my gaze beyond rooms and borders and beings who walk on the ground, to pay homage to what is incomprehensible, to what cannot be named, to praise even as I am afraid, to remember I am here only a few moments in this vast and marvelous world, to listen for the wind, to pay attention, to be in awe.
The Iowa Writers’ Collaborative Roster
Nicole Baart: This Stays Here, Sioux Center
Ray Young Bear: From Red Earth Drive, Meskwaki Settlement
Laura Belin: Iowa Politics with Laura Belin, Windsor Heights
Tory Brecht: Brecht’s Beat, Quad Cities
Dartanyan L. Brown: My Integrated Live, Des Moines
Jane Burns: The Crossover, Des Moines
Dave Busiek: Dave Busiek on Media, Des Moines
Iowa Writers Collaborative: Roundup
Steph C: It Was Never a Dress, Johnston
Art Cullen: Art Cullen’s Notebook, Storm Lake
Suzanna de Baca: Dispatches from the Heartland, Huxley
Debra Engle: A Whole New World, Madison County
Randy Evans: Stray Thoughts, Des Moines via Bloomfield
Daniel P. Finney: Paragraph Stacker, Des Moines
Arnold Garson: Second Thoughts, Okoboji and Sioux Falls
Julie Gammack: Julie Gammack’s Iowa Potluck, Des Moines and Okoboji
Avery Gregurich: The Five and Dime, Marengo
Fern Kupfer and Joe Geha: Fern and Joe, Ames
Jody Gifford: Benign Inspiration, West Des Moines
Rob Gray's Area: Rob Gray’s Area, Ankeny
Nik Heftman: The Seven Times, Iowa
Beth Hoffman: In the Dirt, Lovilla
Iowa Capital Dispatch, an alliance with IWC
Iowa Podcasters Collaborative,
Iowa Podcasters' Collaborative
only here for a moment…
great reminder.
Ahhhh, nice. Thanks.