There had been talk of closing school
as a precaution
for violent winds
scheduled to hit land
overnight
The hurricane was national news
No one wanted to take chances
after what happened in NYC and NJ
Like the song goes,
if it can make it there,
it’ll make it anywhere
surely in a smaller city famous for inclement weather
caught in the same path
The kids prayed for the winds to come
for the lights to flicker
for Mother Nature to spit, hiss, spew, howl
And despite the district making the call
and the kids rejoicing
the storm spared us
only rattling the last leaves from the trees
As the children enjoyed being more vegetable than animal
a package arrived for their father
It came in a large box, as tall as the ten year old
It wasn’t particularly heavy
They took turns guessing its contents
It turned out to be nothing exciting at all
But the girls claimed the empty box for their shelter
from monsters and older brothers
As they huddled under pillows and blankets
the television screen behind them
illuminated a city devastated by that
which only whispered against our windowpanes
Of fire and flood, of life and loss
I looked at the girls- and thought
how fortunate that the only shelter they need
in this moment
against monsters and older brothers
is satisfied by a flimsy cardboard box
