Hurricane Impressions Poem by Barry Middleton

it's very clear she's coming
that's what the whisper says
that hisses in the pines

so many years ago
I learned the signs to watch
a change is in the air

the palm trees start to pray
their folded fronds
turn from the wind

a sleeping giant oak
stretches her limbs and sways
like a goddess waking

now it's about to start
the breeze picks up
and birds make their escape

the tropic deity I worship
is angry now
someone disturbed her rest

and she becomes the hurricane
and yet I see no malice
nature takes its course

the trees are in a frenzy
wildly tossing their heads
an empty protest