RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: CLIMATE CHANGE
Ida
Memories of Katrina haunt me
As if it happened yesterday
I want to scream at the TV screen:
Get out! You’re in the way!
Ida is category two and churning
From Havana to New Orleans
The roads are all jammed
The people are under warning
The fires of Hades burning
Will Ida hit like Katrina did?
Will the authorities be unprepared?
Will the lower ninth be flooded?
Will our sense of outrage be shared?
We have entered an age of tragedy
It often feels like the end of days
The chain of horrors relentless
Seems our legs are made of clay
New Orleans Survives
Ida hit the Gulf Coast hard
Like a bombardment of missiles
Like at twenty-foot wave
Like the breath of an angry god
Full of wrath wind and rain
The power died before nightfall
Leaving those who stayed behind
Hiding seeking shelter inside
They would baton down the hatches
They would fight back the storm
They would protect their belongings
They would protect their homes
They would do what they could
But the storm kept rolling
Churning like a beast
Spreading mass destruction
Like the Saint’s final feast
The people of New Orleans
Know they’re lucky to be alive
They have fought through the years
Self-assured they would survive
It’s not a war zone like Kabul
It’s not the end of a long drive
It’s a place where a culture
And its music still thrives
So help them through this crisis
As they suffer and we cry
We will do what it takes
To help New Orleans survive
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