Searching the Skies in this Heartland

We have lived here. We live here. We are
all along watching for storms in Kansas.
It’s a legacy. I was here. I am here. My memory

all along in Kansas from a window
as hail fell. Don’t cry, shouted my father.
But my oldest son says water contains

hydrogen, oxygen, in a raindrop all along.
Our sons can safely say. I missed out
on such roaming. I read a waterfall

of facebook posts for blogs about
memory hacks and approaching weather.
A post from years ago, our son said, ghosts

live in ghost towns. I say, come along,
let’s play in the basement as outside
the tornado siren begins its song.

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About the Author

Dennis Etzel Jr. lives with their spouse Carrie and their boys in Topeka, Kansas, where he teaches English at Washburn University. My Secret Wars of 1984 (BlazeVOX 2015) was selected by The Kansas City Star as a Best Poetry Book of 2015. Fast-Food Sonnets (Coal City Review Press 2016) is a 2017 Kansas Notables Book selected by the State of Kansas Library.