It’s hurricane season, something taken very seriously in the south and elsewhere. This poem and the quote offered don’t resolve the many problems that arise when your world is changed irrevocably, but words can be a comfort when your thoughts and feelings are linked to another fellow being. Be safe and brave out there. May you receive the help you need.
“Nature repairs her ravages – but not all. The uptorn trees are not rooted again; the parted hills are left scarred: if there is a new growth, the trees are not the same as the old, and the hills underneath their green vesture bear the marks of the past rending. To the eyes that have dwelt on the past, there is no thorough repair.” George Eliot
Waiting to be Rescued Maxine Kumin
There are two kinds of looting,
the police chief explained.
When they break into convenience stores
for milk, juice, sanitary products,
we look the other way.
When they hijack liquor, guns,
ammunition, we have to go in
and get them even though
we’ve got no place to put them.
Hoard what you’ve got,
huddle in the shade by day,
pull anything that’s loose
over you at night, and wait
to be plucked by helicopter,
saved by pleasure craft,
coast guard skiff,
air mattress, kiddie pool,
upside down cardboard box
that once held grapefruit juice
or toilet paper, and remember
what Neruda said: poetry
should be useful and usable
like metal and cereal.
Five days without shelter,
take whatever’s useful.