Hurricane Season

By  Craig Kirchner

I wrote about it, we argued, not nasty,

but disagreed about whether to leave.

We stayed, I made risotto. We planned

to sleep in the master bedroom closet,

Swedish death cleaned, stocked with

bottled water, a small mattress.

Its closest to the middle of the building,

furthest from the windows, very stable,

if this condo complex blows away or ends up

under water, so will the rest of Florida.

June through November, half the year,

we stiffen to possibilities, wait for reports.

Last season science pointed out that

the Gulf has gotten five degrees warmer

over the past decade, storms will necessarily

multiply and strengthen. Hurricane Milton,

last year’s ninth, developed into a FIVE

faster than any other on record.

We haven’t been told to evacuate yet,

been lucky, if demanded, I’m sure we would.

Fortunately, this season we will be free

of the maps, gauges and those systems

that throw such fears and trepidation at us.

We will no longer have the uncomfortable

back and forth about whether to leave,

we will not be bothered with these worries,

warnings of imminent danger, it’s too

expensive to even think about how hot

the Gulf could get, it is a top priority however

to assign its name to the proper great nation.

Craig Kirchner is retired and living in Jacksonville, because that’s where his granddaughters are. He loves the aesthetics of writing, has a book of poetry, Roomful of Navels and has been nominated three times for Pushcart. He was recently published in Chiron Review, Main Street Rag, The Wise Owl, Breathe, The Wilderness House and dozens of others. He houses 500 books in his office and about 400 poems on a laptop, these words help keep him straight.