I Begin To Recognize Poem by Leonard Dabydeen

I begin to recognize
a storm fight
only when the winds
rustle waves of the Atlantic
and sway
coconut trees
rooted in the islands
like Earl whip-lashing rooftops
and howling hurricane madness
and sweeping through homes
without invitation
everything gone astray
even tadpoles loitering
in a pond
and hiding from silver-fish
and my knitted hammock
all busted in a splurge of chaos
and underneath the house
I hide inside grandma chicken -coop
peeping through broken boards
watching
to see if Uncle Max
will open his ice-cream shop
but it is now clap-boarded
with sheets of plywood
hiding from the hurricane
and the wet wind
touch my feet
as I begin to recognize
a storm fight
a dry-coconut rolled over
next to me
thinking
I would recognize it.