Hurricane Run

For Poetry Thursday, I detoured from the prompt; instead I've written two poems about post-Katrina New Orleans:

Cajun cookin'

On the plane from Atlanta to Paris
the baby-faced young man who'd never been out of Louisiana
described his passion: cooking shrimp gumbo and barbeque
and his daddy's nine shrimp boats lost in Katrina's wake,
everything he had swept away.

Delta blues

This freckle-faced youth far, far from home
bursting with excitement and expectation, fear and hope
then flew from Paris to Cairo, where he rode a bus five more hours
to a dangerous job, among strangers in a foreign sea,
speaking languages he'd never heard.

Innocents abroad

Before the levee spilled its banks
the young Cajun chef and oil rig worker
didn't even dream of a passport;
never expected a 36-hour 10,000 mile trip
just to find work to pay the bills.

Stand on your own two feet

No home to go back to; no insurance payout.
His mama wept buckets at the airport,
but no amount of crying could change the fact:
no shrimp boats or off-shore oil rigs left for her son the chef;
no Cajun food where he's gone.

Hurricane Run

Hurricane Run is the only hurricane welcome
a four-year-old racehorse with heart,
storming the tracks of Europe
Handy triumph at Longchamp expected;
punters' darling.

Other hurricanes create devastation,
peeling off lovely facades of cities
exposing their rough underpinnings
of shady mismanagement
and corrupt backroom deals.

Katrina's had a longer run than most
its shocking ruin on a grand scale
sending oil rig workers with Cajun drawls
flying to offshore jobs in the Red Sea;
Gulf Coast hemorrhaging oil and loss.

Government intervention
seems to worsen the problem.
Corruption and greed undercuts
the rebuilding process, moving on a slow train.
The rich get richer; the poor wait their turn.

Marc Broussard's singing about Home
but displaced residents are scattered all over the country.
Some have learned to adjust, accept any job offered;
find other ways to make a living; make new friends,
make the best of a bad situation.

But they long to return to the city of their birth.
Their hearts beat to the rhythm of New Orleans.
The music's infused in their souls - hot jazz and sultry blues
flowing through bourbon-filled nights and warm, humid days.
Now it's all a distant memory.

Thousands of such stories
to crack your heart wide open with despair,
make you weep with frustration and anger
at the ineptitude and bureaucracy fueling their exodus;
when those who can help, won't.

Comments

[Marilyn]

I'm glad you deviated from the prompt, because I love what you've shared here. "when those who can help, won't"...(sigh)...I so wish that wasn't true.

[Sophie]

The poems are so beautiful and pure.
The first poem is so deeply personal
to me - your gift is engaging the
heart of the reader and drawing them
close in the arms of your words

- yYou are a true poet as Emerson says
you can name it because you see it.

[Giggles]

Tara
Both poems, poignant, and introspective. You’re such a compassionate writer, it’s reflected in your work. Thanks for being you!

Sincerely Sherrie

[abhay]

hi,
beautiful poems Tara...you understand the situation so well and your writing reflects your compassion and large-heartedness. I read all your posts and I learn from each one of them.
thanks!

[Mardougrrl]

I really felt your characters--something about that boy who never wanted a passport until Katrina took his life away really touched me.

These will stay with me. Thank you.

[susanlavonne]

I've just realized that many of your poems remind me of ballads....and although they often address a particular situation or conflict, their greater appeal lies in their universal ties that cut to the heart of their messages....this is a long way of saying that like really great ballads, they are timeless.

[Dani]

Before I read the second poem, I felt everything it detailed in the first poem. Does that make sense? Anyway, the first poem touched me the most.

[AscenderRisesAbove]

Your poetry is always right on target. So overwhelming to think about Katrina and all the other horrible things going on in the world. It seems some days that each day brings more losses of culture that we wont be able to get back...

I keep forgetting to mention how much I enjoy your masthead with the red tower on it; that is an amazing photo!!

[berriesplace]

Tara I've been back here numerous times today to re-read these poems. Can you imagine a new Orleans all white and wealthy? crisp and clean??? no rhythm no blues no jive no jazz no dirt no fun? it will never be the same I fear..but my prayer is that all of those displaced find there way back home again somehow someway..they are the soul of New Orleans and always will be. Your writing is exceptional girl! xo

[wendy]

i haven't gotten to the second poem yet. I want to fully digest the first. I have read it 3 times so far. This is a very good poem. I'll com back for the second, but i have the first still on my mind....

[jenclair]

Nothin' like gumbo even when cooked in pots away from home. Praying that N.O. can get through this year without any further disaster. Friends working on their home for this entire past year would never be able to go through it again. I followed the blog of a very erudite and articulate shrimper for awhile after Katrina and must look him up again.

Touching poems...especially the first with its human face.

[Maureen]

both poems are powerful and heartfelt, Tara. For me, the first one got me -- really got me -- more than the second, I think because somehow it touched the humanity we all have in common with the people who lost so much in and around New Orleans. Lost their lives, their loved one's their homes and jobs and schools ... and so, so much more. Cajun Cookin' seems more personal because you are writing about one particular individual - fleshing him out, making him real to us, who have never had to live through a hurricane, or the desperate aftermath. You are writing about the loss through describing (or letting him describe) his passions, the food he cooks (and since everybody needs to eat ...) -- this grounds the emotion more -- for me, anyway.

sorry to go on and on. I hope that makes sense. Both of these are masterful poems about a tragedy -- something I wouldn't even attempt right now because I lack the skill to make it really sing!

thanks for sharing these with us.
RavenGrrl

[rel]

Tara,
You have that amazing ability to cut thru the haze and get right to the heart of a situation, and then to impart those facts succinctly and poetically.
I admire both your heart and your art.

Thank you for your kind words about my poem.
rel

[Catherine]

I particularly liked the first poem.
I was reading that the population of New Orleans has changed drastically from predominantly poor black to predominantly rich white, since they were the ones either in higher areas or who could afford to rebuild.
It's very sad. I have in my possession a copy of a letter written by a relative in New Orleans to his daughter who was studying music in Europe. Just one of the many places that the Scots emigrated to. I was happy to make contact with a descendant and find that none of the family were still living in New Orleans at the time of the hurricane, though some in nearby states were affected by Hurricane Rita.

[Jos]

Living here in the lowcountry has exposed me to the same type of culture that thrived in New Orleans. They are a people who are wealthy in love, who love home, who are not riddled with sorrows or insecurities. They love their families, and are happy church-goers who dance daily. Lively, colorful, rare birds.

Such a horrifying loss. I can't understand this thing...

[Jessie]

Tara, these poems are both heart breaking and beautiful. It makes me think of what a powerful thing the human spirit is--despite what horrible things that can happen to us.

[Rebekah]

So many mammas crying. It's like the shredding of a whole culture. As you have so acutely spoken the truth, corruption on uncountable levels stand in the way of restoration. I don't know if the crying will ever stop. You draw out so many emotions that need to stay raw.

[Tammy]

You have a beautiful gift of writing and it is shining brightly with these pieces. The second one resonated with me today. Your words were so perfectly chosen like "hemorrhaging." Excellent!

[Colorsonmymind]

I especially love the first one. The way the words flow with eachother-especially

His mama wept buckets at the airport,
but no amount of crying could change the fact:
no shrimp boats or off-shore oil rigs left for her son the chef;
no Cajun food where he's gone.

Very nice work. I love them.

[January]

Thank you for these two wonderful poems. I'm particularly drawn to the first and that great last line. But both serve as reminders that N.O. and the Gulf Region are still in dire need of help.

Again, thank you!

[Deborah]

Tara, what poignant poems ... you hit the mark, thanks for writing what was in your heart and reminding us all of the outrage and absurdity of a government mismanagement ... as well, as reminding of the personal impact, the micro level affects of displaced individuals. Beautifully stated.

[Amber]

You are talented to make something so good out of that mess. ;)

:)

[C. Delia]

Creating something beautiful out of something so incredibly dark is a true gift. I appreciated reading these, since so much of the coverage this week has been slick and glib and misses the deep wound left behind by Katrina.

[Willie]

Beautiful. Thanks for letting me know they were here. :-)

[berriesplace]

I just watched a special on Katrina a year later and was so shocked* I don't understand how in the world things are still not done..never have I heard it take so long following other huge hurricanes. Something is definitely NOT right in New Orleans. Sad what has happened to the POOREST people who lived there...it really is like the gov wants them out...they forget tho that without this group New Orleans will lose it's 'flavor' its diversity...the things that made it great to begin with..this reeks of 'racism' I keep seeing the images of the dead bodies that seemed to lay around forever following this storm remember that? so shameful...thanks for this tara!

[swampgrrl]

that was lovely!

[Becca]

Thanks for the reminder that all is still not right in the city of New Orleans. We tend to become complacent about things that are no longer top stories in the news. Our society seems to have a very short memory- good for you for jostling it every now and again!

[kristen]

thank you girlfriend.

[artzyjudie]

Wonderful insight into the Katrina world. Such a shame. Lives will never be the same. Only memories will linger. New Orleans will never, ever recover to it's former "landmark" self.

[kamsin]

I don't know what Cajun shrimp gumbo is, but it looks yummy. Beautiful words Tara about a very ugly situation. It really does 'crack your heart wide open with despair'.