I
Eleven o'clock.
Category two.
Article Photos
The reds, yellows and greens
Of Wilma's eyes glare
From the motel room TV screen:
Wilma spirals and spins -
Landfall in five hours.
Under the mock moons
Of the motel parking lot lamps
The pool glimmers eerie green.
A mad-dog couple frolics in the Jacuzzi.
II
One o'clock.
Category three.
Cone of uncertainty
Grows more certain
In the left bottom corner
Of the Mad TV rerun
On the screen.
Outside the eye
Wilma's advance gusts
Rattle the pool and motel signs.
Sleep is difficult -
Waiting -slow madness.
III
Four o'clock.
Category four.
The wake and wait is on,
Wilma howls horribly,
Hurling horizontal rain,
Shingles and debris
Through the helpless air,
The mad sea of pool rages
Then disappears into darkness
As the power failure begins.
In the unconditioned darkness
The battery-powered radio and flashlight
Connect us to the world and each other
But not to the evacuated home
Where the backups beep to no one.
IV
Five o'clock.
Final burst of Category Three.
Wilma locomotors and thunders,
Body parts of buildings and trees
Collide and explode
With maddening nearness
While our own bodies hold on to each other.
V
Five thirty.
Category two.
Wilma weakens to tropical,
Then gale force
And finally - random gusts.
Flashlights lighting our way,
We emerge from the musty cocoon
Of motel room, descend to the lobby
Where the other untouched and grateful
Riders of the storm will help us wait
For the return of light and power.
-Signed copies of Sanibel Joe's Songbook are available at McIntosh Books and Island BookNook.
