Terri Lynn Cummings has been published in Red River Review, Shadows Express, and soon, Screamin Mamas (8/2015) and Ancient Paths Online. A mother and grandmother, she lives in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, with her husband and two ill-behaved dogs.
Categories: Poetry
Tags: e-zine, ezine, hyperbole, longing, melancholy, melancholy hyperbole, Moore Oklahoma May 20 2013, new, poem, poet, poetry, poets, submit, Terri Lynn Cummings, writing
Melancholy Hyperbole 
Powerful in so many ways.
Very good Terri! As always. Love the layout of the print to tie in with the tornado. Very creative!
Thanks, Patti. I changed the layout of the poem at the last minute before submission. Glad you liked it.
Glad you thought so. That night roared and whispered at the same time.
The best thing about this poem is its simplicity. No waste of words. But the connection between the two events, her mother’s death and the destruction wrought by the storm is subtly but clearly drawn. I will read it several more times.
Thanks for reading and commenting, Rosemary. For me, that night never goes away.
The images of livestock, blind dog, an old woman with a cat and a dying mother in bed could be presented with screams and cries of lament. Instead, using a quiet tone, readers are placed in the eye of the storm, the center, the individual’s point of view. Beautifully written.
Thank you, Vivian. The images of that night were strewn through my heart. I wrote this soon afterward.
I always feel very sentimental this time of the year. My mother passed away on the last day in May, 7 years ago this month. I was with her the night she died. I appreciated the way you weaved the two events together, both so tragic, but also so part of life. I also liked how you wrote it in the shape of a tornado.
Thank you for reading it and leaving a comment. I’m sorry for the loss of your mother. Seven years is not very long ago and yet it is an eternity.
I could not lay the memory of that night to rest until I wrote it. It was impossible to separate the tornado from my mother.
I love the way the author wrote this. Very simple yet thoughtful! The shape of the tornado is so great!
Thank you Ms. Gentry. I’m glad you enjoyed the images presented and the layout.
Beautiful, Terri.
Thank you for visiting the zine and reading my poem.
Beautiful use of concrete poetry.