Nocturnal thunderstorms

Weather sirens are a relatively new thing in Roselle.  When we asked after we moved here in 1995 why there were no sirens, we were told they would wake people up.  Duh.  And of course we could probably hear sirens from the Medinah Country Club or Itasca or Schaumburg or even Hanover Park.  Two or three years ago now there was a weather siren crusade led by one particularly wonderful woman.  Now we have sirens.  I think of how change comes about.  Often it begins with one person getting a burr under her saddle.  She will forever be known as the siren woman.  Not a bad thing.  Not a bad thing at all.

I hear the sirens

So I gather the living things,

The cat,

The turtle.

We sit in the basement

With the wind-up weather radio

The cat

The turtle

And me.

3 in the morning.

I sit in the camp chair

Next to the washing machine,

Wind up the radio.

I hear it is the season

For nocturnal thunderstorms.

They favor the climate

In late July and August.

They roam the northern periphery

Of hot high pressure domes.

They develop and strengthen at night,

In the dark.

When the sun rises

They dissipate

In the light,

In the very light

Of the rising sun.

3 in the morning

I listen to weather lessons

On the wind-up radio

With the cat

And the turtle.

I picture storms roaming

The northern periphery

Of hot high pressure domes.

When there are no tornadoes

We all

Go back to bed,

Wake up

In the light.