“Remembering hurricane Katrina [August 2005]
Like a blink of the eye, the reality is, it is ten years on.
Ordinary people cut adrift, marooned on roof-tops; livelihoods suddenly gone!
We watched with disbelief; natural disaster, unprecedented Sate of Emergency!
Why did the 43rd President, um, dither and um, dither – with no sense of urgency?
Remember the desperate mass evacuations? And precarious air-lifts to the football stadium?
Who could escape the breached levees? No mistaking distraught, raw human emotion.
For all the world to see Poseidon venting fury buried deep within his seas;
Exposing deep divisions; marginalized Americana brought down to her knees.
Families dispersed here-and-there; unimaginable upheaval and commotion.
Worse than any nightmare or minor disturbance straight outta Compton.
Remembering hurricane Katrina ten years’ on:
Dixie trombonists beam and boom “Oh when the saints go marching in”
irresistibly and breezily, hand-clapping, foot-stompin’
heralding the Crescent city’s revival;
Like the firebird: arisen from ashes; gritty resilience; instinctive survival.
Miraculously this “Lazarus” city welcomed back the Superbowl!
To rebuild and repopulate; to resurrect and retrieve its soul.
Mixologizing every cocktail evokes the spicy whiff of danger;
that’s New Orleans signature mix of hardy residents and seduced strangers.
(c) Myke Kofi 2015 @Myko Yeboh
Astrostyle poet laureate @astrotwins http://www.astrostyle.com
www.bbc.co.uk/hurricanekatrina
A personal note: I was vacationing in Florida at the time of Hurricane Katrina. I heard early reports on my car-radio but I didn’t watch any TV. until many days later!
At the time, I felt helpless but made a token donation to the incredible rescue efforts.
So ten years later, I offer this poem to everyone affected by Hurricane Katrina.
wyldegreen poetrywriter 