Tornado Warning

Tornado watches are benign, dealing in possibilities.
Tornado warnings are grave, signaling that someone
Has seen a tornado in this very area.

But the tornado warning surely does not mean that we,
Here in this secure place, will be touched.

The warnings are announced on the TV:

A buzzer sounds seven times. 
    A computerized male voice announces
    In a voice more anxious than calm
    That at an hour certain in the recent past

A tornado was sighted near a place that you know:

Our parish, the neighboring parish, a town in another parish.

The warnings are repeated.

The computerized male voice announces a time

When the warning will expire, and

Gives good counsel: take shelter; if no shelter is available

Get in a ditch and cover your head with your hands.

We are mildly concerned about people we know who live

In the target area.  We should try to contact them to see if

They are all right.  But we do nothing.  

--January 10, 2013