Tropical Storm Poem by Barry Middleton

All of my life the storms passed me by
but the one that is building I cannot deny.

So now is the time for me to prepare,
as a hurricane waits to bring me despair.

I searched all my life for my Florida home,
far from my birth many paths I did roam.

I traveled the south on a southern road
till the road ran out in a tropic abode.

There a turquoise sea and a banyan tree
provided a breeze and some shade for me.

And there I camped and a home I made,
through many a storm I was never afraid.

I survived and I lived all the pain and the joy
and now must prepare for life's final ploy.

Far out in the Gulf where god makes his plans
the weather that's brewing is out of my hands.

Something sinister stirs a darkening cloud,
hiding the heavens with a foreboding shroud.

There is nothing to do that will keep it at bay,
the storm of a lifetime is coming my way.