Irma

Inside the darkened, shuttered house,

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we listened to the shudder of earth's atmosphere
outside and prayed the roof would hold, and
that we wouldn't wake up to catastrophe,
and that we'd wake up, period. (Actually,
I never prayed this for myself,
because I wasn't worried all that much,
directing supplications to the west,
where Irma set her sights. And in the aftermath,
while carrying the massive piles of branches and debris
through standing water to add decoration
all along the street, a soundtrack was provided
thoughtfully by something like a million happy frogs.
Many others, far too many, didn't fare as well,
still underwater, powerless (both in reality and metaphor),
and Irma managed to wreak havoc all along
the state and up the coast ("wreak havoc" being
currently an overused description, albeit
accurate) but prayers of thanks are lifted
for our safety, overall; for lineman on the job and
(in the case of kids) the fact that public schools
are closed until next week.


(c) Ellen Gillette, 2017