Dedicated to Alex Ekstedt

To the nephew I never knew:
Happy Birthday Alex.
Daddy misses you, and mommy
Mamaw and papaw and your
Bubbies do too.

I never saw you but now
You run and play, smile, and
Dance inside my daily thoughts.

Your energy is still here
Just as you always have been
Love keeps you alive.

You Rise
to higher planes
we can only watch.

Today's Tornadoes

a noresponsive baby
found in the middle of a field
nobody knows who the parents are

our fire station was destroyed
another whole town leveled
the storm is over

we heard the half-mile wide
twister roaring in the near
distance as we prayed

for our lives and
the lives of those we love
as the trees were snatched into the air

barns and trailers
smashed. Stop signs
ripped into half

God has spun
his hands. Spinning
down upon the land

mangled pieces
of yesterday’s life
are all that remains

the radio said
that there were
more babies found

We the people
gather our dead
and cry over them

clean up the land
and wind down
from the day's events