…Isabel, Jeanne, Ivan, Charley, Katrina, Rita, Wilma, Ike, Irene, Sandy, Maria, Irma, Harvey, Michael, Laura, Ida…)
the glass falls shattered by the wind
the water rises to the trees
the heavens cry that we have sinned
approach the ending on your knees
the water rises to the trees
the air in spirals bends the sky
approach the ending on your knees
you’ve passed the time for asking why
the air in spirals bends the sky
a wild revolving cosmic hole
you’ve passed the time for asking why
you must surrender all control
A wild revolving cosmic hole
the heavens cry that we have sinned
you must surrender all control–
the glass falls shattered by the wind
In his discussion this week at earthweal of extremes, Brendan specifically mentions unrelenting storms and hurricanes as part of the new weather patterns brought on by climate change. When I looked up the damage and death from hurricanes in The United States and the Caribbean the last 50 years, since Agnes in 1972, it was hard not to be stunned by the continued lackadaisical response of our government to the obvious magnification of severe weather. Band-aids for situations that require surgery.
K. 
You used the pantoum so well to reinforce the devastation we are forcing nature to cause. As always, the arworkt so apt.
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Thanks Punam. It’s hard to believe people are still denying that there’s a problem.
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It is. You are welcome.
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Ah, excellent, Kerfe. I always look at this style of poetry and think it looks like quite a challenge to write.
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Thanks Robbie. I usually write pantoums without the rhymes, because it’s definitely more of a challenge.
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You do the pantoum form so well, and this one is also in perfect rhythm. The naming is like the naming of victims, and yes, it is criminal that nobody does anything to try to slow down the out of control climate.
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It’s depressing. Over and over again.
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I heard this morning there’s been another school shooting in Texas. Just packed up some thoughts and prayers to send over. Then had a good weep at the depressing comments, blaming the school for not having a resident armed militia to protect it…
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Living children have less rights than a gun (or an egg) of course. Their God obviously has no use for anything that is actually alive–humans, plants, animals, the land. Unless it’s a white Christian wealthy Republican male.
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Especially those who are deeply indebted to the NRA. God knows a good bet.
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What an astonishing poem. Apocalyptic. I am chilled.
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Thanks Suzanne. We all should be at this point.
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Yes, these are intense times. We’re on a knife edge.
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Gorgeous poem and definitely looks like the eye of the storm in your collage.
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That eye is getting smaller and smaller. Thanks Jade.
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You’re very welcome, Kerfe.
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A pantoum that speaks to my heart. So many storms. I am as stunned as you are at North America’s non-response to the escalating crisis.
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And now another school shooting…
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Your words could apply equally to gun laws, which is how I initially read the poem! Either way, they ring true…
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That’s true. It seems we are sinking lower and lower in every way. (K)
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Humanity has had 50 years to accept the truth that our climate is changing fast — so little time by evolutionary standards but an extinction-level event in the making. And its been only in the past 10 years or so that the magnitude and ferocity of the hurricanes have exceeded any sense that we can ever master them. I wonder if the Gulf Coast will simply become a sparse land of many ruins.
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I wonder that too Brendan. Are all our coastlines doomed?–Sandy proved that the NYC coastline is just as vulnerable. Each new storm laughs at the futile solutions we keep trying to avoid addressing the underlying causes.
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Well done. I’d say our world is a never-ending cycle, if it wasn’t in an ever-tightening spiral.
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Thanks Ken. We’re leaving ourselves no way out I’m afraid.
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My sister lives in Florida and they have endured 2 hurricanes so far. The first missed the by just a bit but left them with wind damage. The second one hit them head on and they are just now completing repairs from 2020. At least they have hurricane insurance but it goes up every year!
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You can’t get flood insurance most places around here any more. Luckily during Sandy I was living in one of the highest points of Manhattan. Just lost power and downed trees. But I knew a few people who were homeless for months while their landlords cleaned up the flood damage.
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One of my favorite forms and it worked well with your message. Just saying the names of the storms brings a sense of reality and devastation. I think the coastlines will eventually be washed away. I saw the subways in the city full of water and wonder will it one day have canals. Sigh…
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Yes, I think you’re right. Much of lower Manhattan and parts of Brooklyn and Long Island will eventually be under water, despite all the short-term fixes.
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