Do Our Duty

I reread The Angels Cried, and I don’t really like it. I have to do better. I think that the only way I will achieve what I want to, with poetry in regards to Katrina, it will have to be done in a series of poems, about different subject matter.

I believe honestly that we, as poets, need to capture what this country is going through right now! It is vital to not only express what our people are expressing, but for future generations. I know sometimes we have a hard time finding the right words for the right situation. That’s where poet’s come in. They find the words for you. Also, poetry captures the heart and emotion of any situation. So, for future generations of people, for the history books, newspapers and school text, we must capture this time and keep it ever revealed in the minds of the public. So as poets, let’s serve those hurting in our own special way, and write.

If I had opportunity and health, I’d like to travel down there and find inspiration (plus serve the needy!). What I should do is read more of the USA Today and see if I can’t gain perspective there (I live in a small town, and the papers are very local, quality, but local).

Well, I know that I don’t blog here as much as I’d like, but for the next couple of weeks, I am going to do it even less. I need to focus on my publishing projects, and make some serious progress this month. Check back in the beginning of October or the end of September and I will have something spectacular written.

A New Poem

Well, here is what I came up with so far, concerning the hurricane situation. I’m not settled with it, and it still needs some work, but here it is!


The Angels Cried

Warning neglect
Choice not chosen
Wrath? Justice?
Queen Terra release
Infinite power displayed
In wind and water
Bowing to no thing
Cast not blame, or divine
Responsibility, although
Motive would be righteous.
Saddened are the host of
Deo and overwhelmed by
The cries of dead children.
One but a thousand souls!
Someday today will be history
Looking back heads shaking
And only memory to feel
The days pain. The day
The angels cried.

Katrina

In light of current events, I have had some difficulty in coming to words and terms with what has happened not only in New Orleans, but Mississippi also. There are so many considerations when it comes to writing about a situation like this one; the human element, the political element, the heroic element, the tragic element, and what more? For days I have been working on several poems concerning this occasion in our history, and I cannot come to words. I’ve tried to capture my personal reaction. I have tried to capture the suffrage. I have tried to capture the immensity of Natures wrath (or God’s?). I have considered the trespasses of a city like New Orleans and wondered perhaps our Creator had taken a hand. But I have also considered that it was just nature set in order taking its place (but I’m not really a Deist of any measure). But, what of all the helpless, the children, the sick, the elderly, the mentally handicapped, the meek, the humble? What of it? There are so many dead, and also so many more to come. What of the stubborn, who lost their lives due to their own thick headedness? Also, what of all the pet’s that lost their lives? Our pet is so very valuable to us, that she is most certainly one of the family. What of the tragically slow response of our federal government? What of accusations of racial concern. What of the violence, the looting, the murders that have taken place? How does a wordsmith put this into verse? I honestly don’t know. I think I have something I can live with, and I’ll post that tomorrow. But for the most part, I’m lost. As lost as the situation. I have cried for all of those people, and my heart is as heavy as pure gold. My brow is burdened by the sorrow of the souls who scream in contempt of this horrific event. Perhaps, just perhaps, I may yet express what this atrocious affair deserves. But there is one thing that I know, I am not worthy.