Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Katrina Gnoem

Thanks to the various Erics responsible for getting me equipped and on this blog! The source text for my first post is a collection of articles, blogs, and message boards re: the hurricane.



HIS ARM WAS MISSING, AND HE NEEDED HELP


His arm was missing, and he needed help
to mitigate and to accept, etc. For those

who stayed, dressed like dogs, who wore crosses
and spurs, found that the answer was lying prostrate

on the freeway every day: the embryo
body posture, the image of death, flag floating from a trash

can. He leaned over the dusty counterterrorism, and
the volleys fired through the womb, overcome

with militia and praying mantis. His wife
was even reflected in miniature. He asked

if she understood what was happening down
there. In the dark. That some Will Smith would be

the official relief effort. The scale
of mental health crisis. There is no way to follow him.

In a trance, working in that morgue where all the
lights had gone was Bush's vision of our slaves. Life

spilling out of department of health, part of the cleanup
by Murphy Oil of a deer, turkeys, ducks, snipe,

two children, a few plastic bags, vomit and piss.
The most powerful developers have relentlessly

attempted to turn the blame, to send it
into these animals. We are looking

at the mercy of criminals. These are the extravagant
visions of them with almost no working radios,

vision blurred and distorted the identification.





Texts:
Random, Katrina Sources
VA, Birth Source Text

3 comments:

  1. A tragic, world weary poem; the best Hurricane Katrina poem I've read, I must say. It's political without being polemical. Great stuff.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Welcome to the blog, Chad! I concur with Eric E., very dark and moving, and treats the subject with real integrity.

    ReplyDelete
  3. This almost persuades me to write gnoems.

    ReplyDelete