Edge of the Storm

      Zabby

Stanzas	2
Lines	8 = 16 lines
Syllable/Words	10 syllables/line
Rhymes
Repeat	Line 1

So this is a zabby and a half.  I needed an extra stanza.

Edge of the Storm

1              When the birds started their trilling again

                I knew at last the storm had passed us by.

                A micro-burst had struck fifteen miles away,

                A tornado had touched down just forty.

5              The T.V. was telling everyone to

                Heed the tornado warnings until 8:00.

                At 7:39 a new line hit.

                At first it was cool and then I was scared.

               

When the birds started their trilling again

10           And the sky started to lighten up

                My anxiety started to level off.

                And by 8:10 P.M. it was over.

                No more rain, thunder in the distance.

                The lightening had quit flashing around me;

15           Some bolts of which had struck very close by.

                The T.V., which had quit, was broadcasting.

When the birds started their trilling again

                I knew a smidge of what Joplin had felt

                But I still can’t imagine that horror.

20           In a half hour, my world had been shaken

                But at least it was still, completely, here.

                The lightening may have struck a few trees down,

                But I’ve turned the computer back on

                And sit here without fear of being hit.

Beth Ellen Cook               

6-1-2011