Member Poem

Again.
How could it happen
Again?

We thought it was over.
We thought we’d lived through the worst.
We thought it couldn’t possibly happen again.

Everyone was prepared,
But not one expected it.
We had go-bags
Special photos, letters, keepsakes
Everything in one place, all because of last time.
In case it happened again.
But no one really thought it would.

We learned from last time what it was like:
Destruction.
There are more words.
Sorrow.
Mourning.
Pain.
Tears.
Sobbing.
Dread
Worry.
Anguish.
Sadness.
Fear.
But that word
Destruction
Tells the same story on its own.
It wasn’t only physical destruction,
But emotional as well.
Trauma.
How could all of this destruction have happened
Again?

Last time was different.
No one was ready.
No one expected it.
Midnight.
An orange glow behind the mountains.
Driving away; leaving home.
Fear.
Destruction
The power is out and the garage won’t open,
So a woman, nine months pregnant,
Escapes on a bike,
Two daughters on her back,
Husband running behind.
Propane tanks exploding around police officers
As they desperately try to evacuate the elderly from a mobile home park.
A family gets a call at midnight.
“Get out - now!”
This is what it does to people.
But why again?

Now.
Lying in bed.
Listening to the howling wind.
Its roars sound like thunder,
But there is no hope for rain.
Then a phone call.
A knock on the door.
A family member shakes us awake.
“Get out - now!”
Fear.
This has happened before.
How could it happen
Again?