SHAKING BED SPRINGS

During the month when leaves unfurl
and dogwoods bloom in purest white
come the storms with tails which curl
sweeping away all within their flight

I've had a brush with one before
and still recall to this late day
the silence then the freight train roar
when once a small one came my way

It had been a spring day of thunder
where ragged clouds filled southern sky
leaving my new bride and me to wonder
when the storms would finally pass us by

Early to bed, then fun, then sleep
while rain drummed the roof in steady beat
awakened by silence, no sound, no peep
a single dog bark like an entreat

Then came that sudden deep-throated roar
both awake and holding to each other
while our home shakes our bed across the floor
as lurches come one after another

Then gone..as quick as it came
and I hit the floor to kill the power
our home now sporting a twisted frame
outside I ran in fading shower

The ancient cedar once so high
twisted off, thrown to the ground
as if a great hand had passed by
tossing all within its path around

My new-built shop still in one piece
just moved fifty yards whence it once sat
the sky now clear and all's at peace
all to be said? "I guess that's that>"