Directions: Read this passage in which Billie Jo describes the coming of a dust storm. Then answer each item.
from “Fields of Flashing Light”
It wasn’t until the dust turned toward the house,
like a fired locomotive, (1)
barefoot and breathless, back inside,
hissed against the windows,
until it ratcheted (2) the roof,
his overalls half-hooked over his union suit.
“Daddy!” I called. “You can’t stop dust.”
push the scatter rugs against the doors,
dampen the rags around the windows.
Wiping dust out of everything,
she made coffee and biscuits,
waiting for Daddy to come in.
Ma sank down into a chair at the kitchen table
Daddy didn’t come back for hours,
until the temperature dropped so low,
Ma and I sighed, grateful,
staring out at the dirty flakes,
but our relief didn’t last.
The wind snatched that snow right off the fields,
leaving behind a sea of dust,
rippling across our yard.
1 locomotive: Fast-moving train
2 ratcheted: Came down loudly upon
Hesse, Karen. Out of the Dust. Scholastic, Inc., 1997, pp. 32–33.