Katrina's Tears

Dedicated to all who endured Hurricane Katrina.

In she stormed!
Uninvited, unwelcomed, unwanted!
With wild wrath and furious ferocity,
she tore through their lives
shredding everything she touched
she assaulted them,

their way of life,
their very existence,
stripping them of everything…

Everything…
except their hope,

their dignity,

their spirit,

their resiliency.

Then, she left,

Behind…she left
the chaos of her tears--

flooded streets,

a sea of anger, of broken dreams, of death,

human tears falling from devastated eyes,

a sea of faces who searched Katrina’s tears

for loved ones lost, abandoned, forsaken, misplaced.

And we who watched and felt their anguish,
we, you and me,

who feel safe,

who treasure our way of life.

who cling tightly to our very existence,

who possess everything…

In an eye-blink’s instant,

we realize:

Katrina’s tears have become our own.

© 2005 Vicky Lynn Macchione