IN SPITE OF THE STORM
I returned to my home and can’t believe my eyes
My senses are overloaded with the smells and the cries.
I know that it’s real, but it feels like a dream--
The worst disaster the country’s ever seen.
Homes are in splinters, autos drowning in debris
Wasteland and flooding as far as the eye can see--
People wandering in shock, others paralyzed with fear
‘don’t think I can hold back the path of my tears.
People are hungry and thirsty and trying to keep warm
There’s no where to hide from the wrath of this storm.
It may take weeks to get the power back on.
We have nothing left, everything’s gone.
So how does one survive this, where do you find your true grit,
When your instincts all tell you it’s time to call it quits?
You draw on your forefathers and the tenacity they had,
Never surrendering to adversity, no matter how bad.
But who could expect this in these modern times-
Waiting for essentials in miles of long lines?
This is surely a test of our civil world.
Can we withstand the stress of this spinning swirl?
I’m trying to keep moving, ‘can’t stand in one spot.
Anticipation of our rescue feels like being in a watched pot.
So with tears in my eyes, as I observe this land,
I’ll defy the devastation starting with my bare hands.
With the spirit of America, I’ll move mountains of debris.
The despair of this disaster will not break me.
And I won’t give up until we fix it again
With the determination and fight of our good women and men.
We’ve lost so much, but things can all be replaced,
And the memory of this crisis will never be erased.
But we need to be thankful that most of us survived.
Things still could have been worse, costing many more lives.
We’re a strong nation, and we will rebuild.
Our citizens are proud and highly skilled.
We’ve weathered many storms and came back just fine.
And we will survive this one, that’s what makes us sublime!
“Jela”
12/12