Workers chain-sawing downed
trunkslimbsbranchesbareandneedled
all manner of blowers blowing
under threatening skies holding off
for now

but we know the next storm is on its way
gathering like atmospheric birds of prey
and we, unused to so much water so quickly,
sit vigilant

wary about what’s coming at us, hoping
we’ve battened down the hatches well enough
knowing there’s only so much we can do,
that so much of this

is not up to us, and we must trust that
the coming tempest will pass through, move on,
that we will hunker down, then rise above
the gathering storm

to help each other set things right again.