we battened down the doors
I hid my children under layers of blankets
the silence was deafening
after all the flurry
the hot eery silence
loomed
and then we heard it
like a freight train rolling in
under the cover of night
the sun: no more
it was just there
I swear to God
it was a blue and kind day
and then: no more
the hum
and buzz
the pitch
the pressure around us dropped
I laid upon my children
they cried out
I silenced them
as if by being quiet
we could escape the wrath
the windows sealed as best we could
the ache of the howling wind
the hollow look in my husband’s eyes
we will not survive
like a dark snow storm
gathering on the plains
it came upon us
with such vengeance
and fury
I had to ask God
what we did
to deserve such a fate
to be buried alive
when were already starving to death
we are good people
my heart pounds
my children weep
my husband grabs my hand
it starts to hit the window
tiny bits of useless harmless hail but
this ain’t gonna melt
this’ll cover us
like the dirt
on a burial mound
it’ll suffocate every last fear
out of us
the windows blow out
I didn’t expect the glass
shattered
we ducked further
can that be possible?
the cupboards
o God
coffee cups and plates
so many breakable things
how did we not think of those?
will that last gulp of air
last me
we tilt our chins to our chest
pressing flesh to flesh
O God
my weight will
be what kills my kids
no one told us
how dark it would be
God’s dark angels descend upon us
the four horse man galloping
scythes in hand
leveling everything we know
please God please
what the Hell am I begging for?
a life of hand to mouth fist to fist
cover me yes cover me
bring me sweet relief
these dust bowls days
let them end
take my children first
and fast
take me with them
just take me with them
let my brute of a husband come too
gasping
covered
soot and haze
buried alive
O God
O God
I am alive
my children breathe below me
Thank you Sweet Jesus
bruised from my protection
my husband’s calloused hand
the ones that once farmed this land
with his father
that touched my face with tenderness
and a back hand so swift I never saw it comin’
is cold
no more will the hot morning coffee be made
never again will he leave me for the rails
he left on God’s great train ride
right beside me
and I didn’t even know
ashes to ashes
dust to dust
it covers every last thing
the grit in my eyes
but now I see
the great work begins
dust ain’t got nothin’ on this
