Scars from the Tornado (14 page)

Gov.
Jay Nixon presents a
bookbag
to eighth grader Stella
Ndauwa
and other EMS
students the
first day of school.

Gov. Nixon talks with students in one of the crowded
hallways at East.

JOPLIN TORNADO POEMS

TORNADO IN
THE SKY

BY
M
YKAH
C
AMPBELL

A tornado
swirling in the sky,
Things being
crushed and tossed around, Oh, no! Things are gone!
Bodies of fear all
around us
Everyone
has tears
People walking
around thinking
what are we going to
do?
On that night of
May 22, 2011,
a tornado destroyed
the heart of Joplin, Missouri

Mykah
Campbell was a seventh grader
during the 2011-2012 school year.

NO ONE SAW
IT COMING

BY
M
ICHAELA
W
EST

A normal,
sunny day,
the children were
at play
the grownups worked
as
the animals lurked
No
one saw it coming from the sky

Then the
clouds rolled by,
as terror grew in
the sky
Suddenly, from the
clouds
Something
awful came down No one saw it
coming from the sky

A twister so
loud
came roaring down.
It tore through the
city
Filling
others with pity
No one saw it
coming from the clouds

After the
storm, so great,
no one knew his or
her fate.
As they thought of
the dead,
A
rainbow over their heads
No one saw it
coming in the storm.

Michaela
West was a seventh grader during the 2011-2012 school year.

HOPE IS
EVERYWHERE

BY
S
EAN
H
ARRISON

Its spiraling
winds
ripped and tore
and sucked up
everything in sight, but it couldn’t suck up hope,
because you can’t
see it.
Even though you
can’t see it,
Doesn’t
mean it isn’t there.
Hope is something
that touches you. You can lose a material item,
but you can’t
misplace hope
because it’s
everywhere.

Sean
Harrison was a seventh grader during the 2011-2012 school year.

TORNADO

BY
M
YKAH
C
AMPBELL

The winds are
swirling
and swirling louder
and louder. Things get tossed around
and picked up
around.
The winds stop,
things are crushed
and broken into
pieces.
Houses
gone,
Things not even
existing any more.
I will never forget the night
of May 22, 2011.

THIS BROKEN
TOWN

BY
A
SHTON
M
C
G
EHEE

I walk around
this now broken
town,
I look into the ground
dead loved one lay
there is nothing
good of this day.

Buildings lie
in pieces of rubble;
Men walk across
with many shovels, preparing to dig many graves,
preparing for new
sidewalks to be paved.

The crying of
the ones hurt
are heard
throughout the town, sirens and crying are the main sounds. I’ll never forget
this day, this hour, days
later,
I strive for water, a
shower.

I miss them
so, the ones I loved,
the ones who now
float above.
“I’ll get over it
eventually,” yeah, if you say so, I’m permanently scarred from this damned
tornado.

Ashton
McGehee
was an eighth grader during the 2011-2012 school
year.

GONE

BY
K
ARLY
W
EBER

In one instant
our lives were
shattered. Broken
Gone

122 and rising
People’s families Missing
Gone

Hundreds
homeless
On
the street, their homes
Destroyed
Gone

Nowhere to go
No place to stay
Everyone
lost Gone

People crying
And
people dead, not fair! Hopeless
Gone
People lost with
nothing, no one
Everything
is Gone

Looking,
searching frantically trying to find
What
’s
Gone

People’s help
appreciated No one gets it
Misunderstood
Gone

Town deserted
with residents leaving Hopelessly they’ve
Gone

Cleaning,
volunteering, FEMA $1 billion
Hopeless, almost
Gone

One day the
destruction will be cleared
Joplin’s sadness
Gone

Karly
Weber was an eighth grader
during the 2011-2012 school year.

A MOMENT IN
TIME

BY
J
ACY
W
ELCH

I was scared
to death Frightened as can be
Couldn’t
believe my eyes
I wish it was a dream

All I could
see was wood and debris, I didn’t want to cry
But
I couldn’t keep it in
Nothing more was on
my mind

That night was
horrendous Sirens, choppers, silence
But
morning came
And reality hit

I wanted to
help
But
family was on my mind All my
priorities changed I wanted to help, go out and see

My old house
was gone
We
went to see
All it was, was
wood rubble, and debris All the memories overflowed inside I wanted it all to
be over I was done with it all
It was too much to
handle I didn’t know how to cope

Taking it
day by day
Holding tightly to
Jesus
He brought comfort,
healing and
Peace knowing that
He was and is in control

It has been
almost a year
Joplin has become
bigger, better, stronger
We
are all a tight community
and We will do this together

Jacy
Welch was a seventh grader
during the 2011-2012 school year.

RECOVERING

BY
M
ACKENZIE
G
UNDERSON

Two weeks
before school is out,
Something
terrible is coming,
But no one knows what.

Tornado sirens
wail with all their might,
Everyone
scrambles to a
basement, Or anywhere even the slightest bit safe.

It gets
shockingly quiet,
While
everybody waits Until the
coast is clear

Then the
rumbling starts, It sounds like a train
Rolling down
endless tracks

Windows burst,
Trees snap like
twigs, Death is in the air.

Hundreds of
people,
Just
passed on,
Only one from our
school. It stole many things from us,
Our
friends and
family, Places we knew,
And even our school

But in all bad
things, There’s always at least one Good turn out of it

We are
recovering
And
growing stronger. We will have
new things,
And
a stronger community.

Mackenzie
Gunderson was an eighth grader during the 2011-2012 school year.

EF-5

BY
B
RIDGET
I
NGHAM

It was like
any other Sunday.
People were
enjoying the last of their weekend Getting ready for the week,
Or
maybe doing the last of their
errands Whatever people were doing
Joplin was peaceful

That very
night
At
5:41 to be exact Disaster happened

A tornado.
Yes, that’s what it
was.
The horrible
disaster that came
Through
peaceful Joplin
It ruined everything
The town,
People’s hearts
People’s lives
It just killed you
inside
And it still does
now

But Joplin has
been stronger than ever
It
’s quite amazing
How the Joplin
people came together To help one another

Yes, we might
have to live with a warehouse school,
But
we will make
it
Because we are
Joplin strong.

Just look on
the bright side
All of the houses,
And all of the
buildings
That were destroyed
Will be brand new
And Joplin will be
gorgeous again

5/22

BY
J
OSEPH
F
RY

Families
having dinner Relaxing in their homes
The
sky was dim
We went out on a
limb,
Hopin
git
was just
rain

It was so much
more
Than
a light pour
It was a whirlwind
threat
It ripped through
wood, tore through trees No mercy was felt that day

Many grieved
So much that they
would leave Mending this loss takes time
We
’ll repair.
We’ll replace
But
we will never forget

Our spirits
were lightened
When buildings came
back
However, the old
will always remain Out with the old, in with the new Despite in an unfortunate
way New homes were filled
The occupants were
thrilled Back to normal is what they wish Families having dinner
Relaxing in their
homes