Church Bells
The church bells rang.
Hymns were sung.
Brightly, colored Easter eggs
had been gathered
into baskets large and small.
Hams, brown sugared
and studded with cloves,
had been served up
to adult filled dining tables.
Kids fed in the kitchen.
When plates were gone,
the dominoes appeared.
The floor was littered
with toy soldiers and doll houses.
Upright pianos tinkled notes
of "When Irish Eyes are Smiling",
or words sung from a new hymn,
"The Old Rugged Cross".
It was just about time
to make a sandwich
with the leftover meat
and Grandma's prize
winning rye bread,
when eight demons
captured the wind and plowed
a path through the land
forty miles long, half a mile wide.
Not caring whether they swept
away Methodist or Baptist,
black or white,
young or old,
the tornadoes took
their lives and homes.
Friends, relatives, strangers died
while the tails of the devils
dipped and rose over the town
leaving fear and destruction behind.
The water rose,
the temperatures descended.
The church bells were silent.
Our prompt for today is to write a poem from a 1913 headline. This is the 1913 storm of tornadoes that tore through Omaha, Nebraska. Follow the link for more information:http://www.rarenewspapers.com/view/568353
If you would like to read more poems from this prompt, hop over here:http://magalyguerrero.com/poetizing-the-news-of-1913/
Want to join in the merriment and such, then head over here:http://magalyguerrero.com/poetizing-the-news-of-1913/
