May 22 2011 Joplin's Ef-5 Tornado
Brick houses gone, wood houses gone
Family histories blown away
No photos or proof of life
2.8 billion dollars worth of damage
Devastation for a mile.
One house standing, with debris
Covering every inch of her yard.
2008 Chevy in oak tree,
Electric lines dangerously torn
Silence after the roar of what sounded
like a train, but must have been the
Two hundred and eighty-one mile an hour winds.
Tornado on a scale we cannot comprehend
No one creeping out of houses
For almost no one was there when it hit.
If they had been, they are gone now.
People creeping back hours later
Shocked, horrified, grief-stricken
Not for loss of life, which did happen,
But for life of soul-things.
Photographs, decorations, spoons, and forks,
Family heirlooms, favorite purple boots,
Grandma’s gold chain, lost forever, a lifetime of memories lost,
most never recovered, destroyed, or dumped in rivers.
May 22, 2011, Joplin Missouri’s most catastrophic EF-5 tornado
The city comes together about a week later
Interlopers from other cities come,
Pouring in with help, food, water, clothes
Things a family needs to get back on their feet
The love shown to Joplin was fierce and fast.
Tears flowed unexpectedly, and selfishness
Was felt by those who did not feel
“grateful” like they were supposed to feel.
Many felt despondent, devastated, depressed.
They were immobile, some never fully recovering
While in the back of their minds many were
Silently grateful, thanking God for being spared.
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