The Tornado

by Jim Ocean
© 2009, Jim Ocean Music
 
It was evening in the heartland and the shadows were growing long
The cicadas nearly deafened you with their song
There was lightning in the distance and a warning on the air
As I waited for a tornado to come down through the air . . . like a demon
Throwing houses everywhere, but I never saw one

The wind was blowing hard through the living room that night
We listened through the wall to hear them fight
So I hid out in the backyard catching fireflies
Listening to the thunder in my home that night
And I worried that a wind would eat this house . . . this house of fury

Gotta get away . . .
The storm is breaking now . . .
Gotta get away . . .
The storm is breaking now

Sometimes we’d run for the car
Driving fast from a sky that hung so dark
I pressed my nose to the window and imagined a funnel cloud
To take me away . . . far away from this family shroud

The storm was passing over, all the rain was heading south
But dark clouds were still gathering in the house
And as the moon shown through my window, I heard shouting in the hall
Then I dreamed that a tornado had just swallowed it all . . . like a demon
Making everything seem small, but I never saw one.