Tornado Survivor
Heather McHugh
“Me lord passed by and a great and strong wind
rent the mountain … but the lord was not in the wind…” Elijah
I said the people come inside.
They would be safe
in the building.
So many of those people die.
You can see my guilt.
I could see hands
to a lady moving.
I knew the lady.
You can see my guilt.
Sometimes I want to run, to get
away from it. I ask
forgiveness from
the cemetery. You
can see the cemetery.
I can never dream
this storm away.
It was over for maybe minutes
then it was never over.