shelter

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