Drawn and Quartered

“Everything was everywhere.” (Joplin, MO tornado survivor)

It was as if Mother Nature
Had thrown the town under a train.
It skidded hard for good measure,
Smearing acreage with guts and brain.

Uncle Alvin would do a snake
Encountered in the road that way.
He said, “Swerve quick and put a back
Wheel on it, brake on that bad boy.”

Half hanged, cock-chopped, de-balled, headless,
Pulled apart is how they died
In Merry Olde England’s justice,
Braked on alive and liquefied.

Nature taught Alvin and the Queen
How to make a good disaster:
Be thorough, merciless, and mean —
Fuck the town, the snake, the bastard.

(Copyright 2018 James Mansfield Nichols. All rights reserved.)