Andrew, 1992ish

Wind like a physical terror,
titian thundercloud and Hade's malevolent eye,
cyclopean hurricane hunters in army brigade green
   crisscrossing that bulbous girth w. kamikaze courage,
southbeach breasts back in bras crying in their bath tubs,
panhandle palmettos stiff like the flag on the moon,
waif trailer spitting too arrogantly into the eye
   of that monstrous purple god,
wide-eyed prayer to an absentee Christ who
   once calmed the roaring waves
      but not this storm for me,
darkest midnight I'd ever witnessed in Suburbia,
a silent morning covered in anything that could
   be thrown,
me, so excited to be alive,
and the pecan tree
   split down the middle of the only RV camper
      my parents ever owned.

TA