This poem was published in the print journal The Avalon Literary Review. I wrote it after listening to a news report about a small group who survived a tornado in a freezer.
Tornado Goes to QuikTrip
When it finally got serious, after teasing
long enough for people to agree,
These things never really happen
except to those who made bad life decisions,
the twister turned, hurried their way
and drove them into the store.
Looking for God, sprinting past Little Debbie,
they ran into the walk-in freezer.
As the tornado played with them,
the women called out to their Creator.
The men said I love you to one another,
agreeing to find this kind of love acceptable.
The funnel took a wooden spoon to the shelves
and stirred, broke eggs into the bowl,
made cake from a box on sale
before moving on down the road.
Sweaty and cold, the frosted people crawled out,
shaking in the aisles of sweet debris,
kneeled on the Wonder Bread, and said
Thank you, Jesus, we are saved.
Published in The Avalon Literary Review, Spring 2020.