Tornado Warning

Could also be called "Spring in Texas"

From the sudden storm's tornadoes
and the sirens going off
and the radar still updating—
now deliver us, O God.
Yet for safety and for shelter
as the danger passes o'er
while the world outside's a welter—
for all this, we thank you, Lord.

From the asphalt shingles flying
or the buckling of the walls
that would leave us naked, lying—
now deliver us, O God.
For the tedium of waiting
huddled on the bathroom floor
'til the siren's slow abating—
for all this, we thank you, Lord.

From the slumber of complacence
under quiet skies and broad
that fill, in a blink, with hailstones—
now deliver us, O God.
For the turning of the weather
and the end of every storm—
May we come through all together—
for all this, we thank you, Lord.

A tornado near Anadarko, Oklahoma, 1999. The funnel is the thin tube reaching from the cloud to the ground. The lower part of this tornado is surrounded by a translucent dust cloud, kicked up by the tornado's strong winds at the surface. The wind of the tornado has a much wider radius than the funnel itself. By Daphne Zaras - http://www.nssl.noaa.gov/headlines/dszpics.htmlOriginally uploaded at en.wikipedia; description page is/was here., Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2130165