blown away

no ruby shoes but survived.
i just saw, YES I SAW the twirling tornado a few feet from me
it was so close that it almost swept us away
downtown is a war zone
roofs have been blown away
it felt like beirut being bombed
we were having dinner quietly at the ethiopian place downtown when whoosh hail then pressure on your ears then no electricity then everyone yelling and running into the kitchen
no cell phone connection
sirens everywhere
then quiet
we step outside and see it
standing there connected to the sky, enlarging by the second, wrapping lightning and hail, trying to make up its mind
the quiet stillness in the air
cars smashed and garbage dumps everywhere
david the owner reading its mind and telling us it's going away
we bonded in his kitchen huddled together
it swept right through downtown destroying everything in its path
people frightened yet excited
a feeling of exhilaration with awe and anticipation
a flurry of phonecalls now, stories, reassurances
we transfer to the Sheraton where there's glass everywhere and doors have been uprooted
a girl is strolling in her white bath robe asking for the basement (yes i realize the dangers of my cleopatra showers now)
rumours of another one on the way
down to the basement
warning gone now
outside is literally destroyed; shards of glass on the ground, police men and ambulances hovering
no traffic lights it was like beirut with people coming from all directions and honking and a million cars

i'm happy that i did not die/fly in the tornado and i'm celebrating the survival of blueberry and my roof etc

and when i woke up this morning i thought can it get any worse!? i'm choking on a stuffy nose, i'm deaf, my sinuses are exploding and there's an alien that is speaking out of my mouth and i have to go ask an old woman who's half blind half-deaf what she had for dinner last night

tornadoes, huh!