Collection

(Note: this poem was inspired by the heartbreaking photograph below from the Los Angeles Times showing a young boy surrounded by the devastation of Hurricane Katrina along the Mississippi Gulf Coast.)\r\n\r\nA child sits atop a roof\r\nNo one else in sight\r\nAnd wonders where his parents went\r\n(When the storm subsided)\r\nIn total fright\r\nDebris nipping at his heels\r\n\r\nHe puts his mind in his hand\r\nAtop an elbow resting on a knee\r\nSuch weights upon a little man\r\nTeddy bear lain at his feet\r\nAsking himself, \"Why me?!\"\r\nAnd, \"Has the storm gone away?\"\r\n\r\nThe rubble around him\r\nScreams out at his solitude\r\nHis mind overwhelmed\r\nWishing it were all a dream\r\nBut sight attests the magnitude\r\nOf his LOSSES, and the losses\r\n\r\nEven a voice would sooth\r\nHowever distant away\r\nCould it be they\'re gone forever\r\nCarried away by the wind\r\nSo many things needed to say\r\nWith no one there, to listen\r\n\r\n\"I\'m hungry, now, I think\"\r\nBut where\'s his food\r\nIn all this mess?\r\nWho\'d bless it for a meal?\r\n\"No matter, I\'ve lost the mood\"\r\n\"Does anyone know how I feel?\"