One week in May, we wake 
each day to sirens. 

Branches shaking,
snapped. We aren’t lulled 

back to dreams by the wailing, 
the rhythmic pelting of hail. 

Take shelter, our phones tell us.
We descend to our underground 

havens as the heavens seek 
an axis around which to wheel. 

Clouds the color of slate 
steel themselves against 

the other, weaponless air.
The wind makes itself a drill bit 

spinning over still-green 
cornfields, and I wish a religion 

would whirl through my brain—
raze my sense that we deserve

the skies turning on us. 
Let me find mercy in this scene: 

the gods coveting a passageway 
from sky to ground—

a funnel-shaped tunnel to pull us 
through to another world.

We welcome reader letters. Email High Country News at editor@hcn.org or submit a letter to the editor. See our letters to the editor policy.

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Spring of Whirling Omens

by Carolina Hotchandani, High Country News
December 1, 2024

<h1>Spring of Whirling Omens</h1> <p class="byline">by Carolina Hotchandani, High Country News <br />December 1, 2024</p> <br /> <figure class="wp-block-audio"><audio controls src="https://www.hcn.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Spring-of-Whirling-Omens-2.mp3"></audio></figure> <p>One week in May, we wake <br />each day to sirens. </p> <p>Branches shaking,<br />snapped. We aren’t lulled </p> <p>back to dreams by the wailing, <br />the rhythmic pelting of hail. </p> <p><em>Take shelter</em>, our phones tell us.<br />We descend to our underground </p> <p>havens as the heavens seek <br />an axis around which to wheel. </p> <p>Clouds the color of slate <br />steel themselves against </p> <p>the other, weaponless air.<br />The wind makes itself a drill bit </p> <p>spinning over still-green <br />cornfields, and I wish a religion </p> <p>would whirl through my brain—<br />raze my sense that we deserve</p> <p>the skies turning on us. <br />Let me find mercy in this scene: </p> <p>the gods coveting a passageway <br />from sky to ground—</p> <p>a funnel-shaped tunnel to pull us <br />through to another world.</p> <p><em>We welcome reader letters. Email </em>High Country News<em> at <a href="mailto:editor@hcn.org">editor@hcn.org</a> or submit a <a href="https://www.hcn.org/feedback/contact-us">letter to the editor</a>. See our <a href="https://www.hcn.org/policies/lte">letters to the editor policy</a>.</em></p> <p>This &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://www.hcn.org/issues/56-12/spring-of-whirling-omens/&quot;&gt;article&lt;/a&gt; first appeared on &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://www.hcn.org&quot;&gt;High Country News&lt;/a&gt; and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.&lt;img src=&quot;https://i0.wp.com/www.hcn.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/cropped-HCN_Logo-Monogram_White_Sq-2.png?resize=150%2C150&amp;amp;quality=100&amp;amp;ssl=1&quot; style=&quot;width:1em;height:1em;margin-left:10px;&quot;&gt;&lt;img id=&quot;republication-tracker-tool-source&quot; src=&quot;https://www.hcn.org/?republication-pixel=true&amp;post=329794&amp;amp;ga4=G-0NS3WVPPTN&quot; style=&quot;width:1px;height:1px;&quot;&gt;&lt;script&gt; PARSELY = { autotrack: false, onload: function() { PARSELY.beacon.trackPageView({ url: &quot;https://www.hcn.org/issues/56-12/spring-of-whirling-omens/&quot;, urlref: window.location.href }); } } &lt;/script&gt; &lt;script id=&quot;parsely-cfg&quot; src=&quot;//cdn.parsely.com/keys/hcn.org/p.js&quot;&gt;&lt;/script&gt;</p> Copy to Clipboard

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