Tornado Alley

A tornado comes and goes so quick Sometimes revisiting on the same day Air humid, breathing hard and thick Best advice given…get out of its way Sounds like freight train bearing down Delivers this –Varoommmmmmmmmm Next best advice--don’t live in a valley Respite from twisters in Oklahoma town Not possible— it’s tornado alley Here’s the scoop May 5, 1960…The date of the natural crime Wilburton, Oklahoma…quiet and boring Me…my life, smooth and in my prime Outside, trouble brewing, rain pouring No wind—then dark---storm clouds Sudden change and all so loud No way to stop---nature makes it way Tornadoes F4 hit twice that day Up one hill, down in the valley, another hill A path right through main street Wiped out fifteen blocks with shocking skill Score tornado 16, town 0…no receipt Sadly, sixteen dead, hundreds hurt Think disaster, destruction, devastation Hail equates baseballs—certain disconcert Wind 250 miles per hour, an aberration On a personal note Mom, sister, and I alone Little sister told to put football helmet on I get only, “You better pray. Don't groan." Three females in bathtub…no put-on Scared, hoping this was a no drop zone First cyclone over…it was no spoof Uh, oh, second one took the roof--- But not us…Prayed and prayed God was there, though fear stayed What happens next...nothing good Can’t drink the water… Dysentery, typhoid, cholera—it could Can’t go to school Smushed-–classes postponed Can’t go to church Smashed---future unknown Can’t find food Red Cross helps pick up the tone Friends hurt, one killed One man up in the swirl… Carried him about a mile—life unfulfilled No limbs left—no head to twirl People scared another will hit The normal long gone—some split Build shelters, that's the name of the game Yet, life did go on... but nothing ever the same