And They Knew

Collection

Hellicane: Poets Respond to Hurricane Katrina

It is a wind that blows no one some good...\r\nbut conniving treachery - the illest wind by far\r\n\r\n...AND THEY ALL KNEW KATRINA WAS COMING\r\nTHE POOR, BLACK AND DISPOSSESSED\r\nWOULD BE THERE WHEN SHE ARRIVED\r\nFOR THEY HAD BEEN ABANDONED\r\nLEFT TO FEND FOR SELF\r\nOR DIE\r\n\r\n\"Papa Legba, ouvrier barriere por moi passer\"\r\n\r\nOOOH SHE WAS A VERY ILL WIND THAT HAD FINALLY\r\nBLOWN IN\r\nHARBINGER OF SEVERE MOURNING\r\n\r\nWHAT FOUL THEOCRACY IS THIS?\r\n\r\nDESTROYER ABOLISHING ALL MANNER OF THINGS\r\nALL SUBSTANCE AND LOVED ONES\r\nALL SECRETS AND DREAMS\r\nFAMILIES SCATTERED BY THE BREATH\r\nOF MEPHISTOPHLIAN SCHEMES\r\n\r\nFROM PANDORA\'S BOX OF EVILS\r\nKATRINA LOOSED FOR THE WORLD TO SEE\r\nJUST HOW SELF-POSSESSED AND RUTHLESS\r\nTHOSE IN POWER WOULD PROVE TO BE\r\nTHEY HIRED BLACK WATER MERCENARIES\r\nTO KILL PEOPLE IN ABJECT NEED\r\nWHERE IS THE GOD IN THIS AMERICA?!!\r\nHUMANITARIAN??\r\nDEMOCRACY??\r\n\r\nKATRINA\r\nLEFT IN A HUFF\r\nSEARCHIN\' FOR THOSE\r\nWHO HAD CONJURED HER UP\r\n\r\n...AND THEY ALL KNEW SHE WAS COMING\r\n\r\nAND THEY -\r\nTHE RICH WHILE MASKING THEIR SNEERS -\r\nMADE SURE SHE WAS GONE BEFORE THEY REAPPEARED\r\nDRESSED UP FOR THE CAMERAS IN THEIR FINEST GEAR\r\nTO ADD TO THE CHAOS\r\nMORE CONFUSION AND FEAR\r\n\r\nAND THEY STOOD THERE\r\nBOLDLY PERPETRATING A FRAUD\r\nBEFORE THE SERPENT, AND THE RAINBOW\r\nAND YES BEFORE GOD\r\n\r\nTHE RISING TIDE OF HUBRIS\r\nBREACHED THE LEVEE WITH A ROAR\r\nFLOODING THE CITY WITH WATER UNHOLY\r\nTO MAKE PUTRED THE VESSEL FOR\r\nTHE PINK-CHEEKED PAINTED DEBUTANTE\r\nWITH THE LICKING BLUE-BLACK TONGUE\r\nON THE COAT TAILS OF AN ILL-WIND\r\n\"SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES\"\r\n\r\nVEILED DISTORTIONS PARTED\r\nSHE IS HIDDEN NO MORE\r\nBLUE-BLOODED AMERICA\r\nNAKED GLUTTONOUS WHORE\r\n\r\nSTARVING FOR BREAD SHE CANNOT DIGEST\r\nAND THIRSTING FOR THE WINE SHE WILL NEVER INGEST\r\nTHE TRUE NATURE OF HER SPIRIT\r\nIS AT LAST MANIFEST\r\n\r\nAND RITA IS ON THE\r\nHORIZON\r\n

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Citation

“And They Knew,” Hurricane Digital Memory Bank, accessed May 2, 2024, https://hurricanearchive.org/items/show/26353.

Geolocation