the sirens sounding

for the Clarksville tornado

how quickly the cloud changed

into a white funnel

of terror

Aerial View Of Mount Vesuvius, Courtesy of the St. Louis Science Center. Pompeii Exhibition

"We are not good at recognizing distant threats even if their probability is 100%..." 

     ~James R. Schlesinger

fleeing Mount Vesuvius

in a boat of uncertainty

the survivors

never claim the ashes 

of those they left behind

Courtesy of the St. Louis Science Center, "Pompeii: The Exhibition"

Erie, PA, 2024

after the eclipse we drove

to the bicentennial tower,

its two-hundred steps

more than any of us

could climb in one breath

A Nickel for Your Thoughts

 

50 days

to unravel the economy

let’s get rid of pennies

as if that were the issue

keeping us up at night

remembering 

the January 6th insurrection

I will not pardon

the snow's return

nor shake its icy hand