"Eighteen Ways of Looking at Hurricane Harvey" by Lauren McBride

Eighteen Ways of Looking at Hurricane Harvey

Lauren McBride

I

Rockport in the cat 4 bullseye

the wrath of Harvey's winds 

batter the Texas coastal bend

II

             five days of torrential rain            

Houston becoming

a city of islands

III

not Houston's first hurricane

yet Harvey floods many homes 

for the first time

IV

water rising

wildlife

homeless too

V

all day, all night

tornado warnings

where to shelter

in a flooded home

VI

traffic map

every road

red

VII

 where there's a will -

pizzas delivered

by kayak

VIII

record shattering 

                         52 inches of rain                           

flood news becoming tiresome

except for those 

caught in it

IX

flight after flight canceled

waking to find 

both airports closed

day after day 

trying to reschedule

X

stranded in Houston

a week advances 

elsewhere

XI

Harvey heading east

the sky brightens

sprinkling quietly

XII

in a clearing sky

helicopters 

hurrying by

XIII

strange to be under curfew   

                           like living in                           

a disaster movie

XIV

water receding

a chance to drive out for groceries 

everywhere - drywall, carpet, 

belongings at the curb

furniture outside to dry

cars - hoods up, doors open

XV

empty store shelves:

now a welcome sight

the supply trucks 

          I used to curse            

for clogging traffic 

XVI

Beaumont's pump stations flooding

"water, water everywhere

 and not a drop to drink"

     

XVII

           take cover Louisiana          

Harvey has his eye

set on you

XVIII

after Harvey

the sound of rain

alarming

Poet’s Notes: To cover the full wrath of Hurricane Harvey would take a much longer poem. I have concentrated on coastal Texas. Harvey spread damage to central Texas and many other states before finally raining itself out in New England on Labor Day weekend, nine days after landfall. Catastrophically, Irma followed Harvey within weeks. 

The devastation from an unprecedented two Category 4 Atlantic hurricanes hitting the United States in one year will long be remembered. What I hope will also be remembered is the sense of community we shared as a nation as people countrywide mobilized to help.

Editor’s Note:  I had several poems about storms and hurricanes in the Songs of Eretz publishing queue that I accepted for publication long before the arrival of Harvey and Irma.  Although all of them were worthy of publication and some of them contained messages of hope, they all glorified the natural power, ferocity, and poetry of storms.  There was no way I could publish these poems in the aftermath of the recent devastating hurricanes.  “Too soon” would have been diplomatic--“poor taste” would have been closer to the mark.

In contrast, Lauren tastefully and respectfully captures the horror of Harvey's arrival with simple but compelling metaphors and stark, raw, yet poetic statements.  She also captures the hope-filled sadness of Harvey's departure, and her notes enhance the feeling that the disaster will eventually be overcome with help from the community at large.