BIO
Eloísa Pérez-Lozano graduated from Iowa State University with a B.S. in psychology and an M.S. in journalism and mass communications. Two of her poems were finalists in the 2017 Friendswood Public Library Ekphrastic Poetry contest. A 2016 Sundress Publications Best of the Net nominee, her poetry has been featured in The Texas Observer, Houston Chronicle, Diverse Voices Quarterly, and The Acentos Review, among others. She lives with her family in Houston, Texas.
Twitter @elopoeta
Tornado
He comes into their room
tells her she’s beautiful, amazing
she’s everything to him.
The open sky
brings peace,
there’s a slight
breeze in the fields
and the clouds
seem friendly
as they hover in the sky.
He starts asking her about
the innocuous exchange with
the mailman a few minutes ago.
The sky turns to
gray
air thick with
electricity
then green and
pink hues flare
the colors of
sudden fury.
She thinks how he has to know
nothing happened, but it’s no use
the familiar accusations have begun.
The clouds crash
against each other
birthing the thin
and deadly spiral
that reaches for
the ground,
flattening grass
and scattering dirt.
Her phone explodes against the wall
as she begs him to calm down
still denying his delusion.
The string of
whirling air touches down
leaning from side
to side
growing stronger
by the minute
turning toward a
lonely house.
He crosses the room in quick strides
and backs her into a corner
where she cowers, trembling.
The sound of a
train horn
rips through the
air
warning of
imminent
and inevitable
destruction.
He cuts her down with whisper-yells
forcing his way into her ears and soul
as she tries to ignore him, frozen in place.
Roof tiles fly
into the wind
as it yanks the
wooden mailbox
swiftly from the
earth and the
rose garden surrenders
its beauty.
Sick of silence, he grips her throat,
and starts to choke her, screaming,
“You worthless, fucking cunt!”
Siding shrieks as
it tears away
bricks tumble into
the air
the house ripped
apart
by a force too-great.
Insults and saliva hit her gasping face
as her fingernails dig into his hands
trying to fight the force of his hate.
Wood splinters and
porcelain cracks
as the frame of
the house
struggles to stay
strong
against the
whipping winds.
Finally, he lets her go
and she crumples to the floor
sinking into a dark unconscious.
The storm
dissipates into oblivion
leaving no evidence
of existence
except a home and
heart in ruins
and the illusion
of peace.