Black Eye

When each possession had been swept
away by wind or water, and the chaos labeled
3, 4, or 5, death came. Or displacement.
What was left to salvage? No house, clothes,
photo to hold or help heal. Some survivors
waved white or red "Save Us" flags for several days.
Sometimes someone came to those rags or signs
by small boats. But refugees, rebuffed, had been struck
by the eye.
                      Each of us now has been a host to some
lost child recalling when waters climbed higher.
Lush green gardens gone, and trees are salt-
watered at best. (The whole of horror is
not just tossed bombs.) So where can they flee
next from Pass Christian, Bay St. Louis, Waveland,
Gulfport, Biloxi, Ocean Springs, or New Orleans?
The lucky ones, left with breath.

- Langdon Review of the Arts / Labyrinth