Tornado Watch
by Casey Fitzsimons
When a tornado threatens Tulsa
sometimes the electricity goes out.
We’ll have peel-and-eat shrimp and celery
instead of peel-and-eat shrimp and corn
on the cob. The beer’s no longer cold so we’ll
have Diet Coke using the ice that’s starting
to melt and clump together in the freezer.
And the shrimp peels will go into a plastic bag
in the trash because we can’t run the disposal.
But we will see each other’s faces backlit
against the dying afternoon and not
realize when the refrigerator hums
in the lantern-lit kitchen that lights
have come on in the living room.
by Casey Fitzsimons
When a tornado threatens Tulsa
sometimes the electricity goes out.
We’ll have peel-and-eat shrimp and celery
instead of peel-and-eat shrimp and corn
on the cob. The beer’s no longer cold so we’ll
have Diet Coke using the ice that’s starting
to melt and clump together in the freezer.
And the shrimp peels will go into a plastic bag
in the trash because we can’t run the disposal.
But we will see each other’s faces backlit
against the dying afternoon and not
realize when the refrigerator hums
in the lantern-lit kitchen that lights
have come on in the living room.