DOTS OF TOWNS MONTHS AFTER HURRICANES HARVEY AND IRMA

by Sister Lou Ella Hickman


Storm-damaged Rockport, Texas homes are seen in this Sunday, Aug. 25, 2017 aerial photo. Mortgage delinquency rates soared in September and October in many of the coastal and other cities flooded by Harvey, including Houston, Beaumont and Corpus Christi, according to new data from real estate analytics company CoreLogic. —San Antonio Express-News, January 15, 2018


                of course, there will be long, massive work
                for big names like
                houston and miami    however rubble
                is also rubble in the dots of towns
                with their downed trees and power lines
                roofs sheared off   walls that caved
                these are the invisible ones living between and around bigness
                dots of towns in a litany of counties
                                     that lost schools, citrus groves, hole in the wall cafes
                                     that didn’t make the news
                                     the question now
                                     will the police officers, librarians, butchers, teachers and bakers  go elsewhere
                                     or will they like some of the volunteer firemen decide to stay
                                     after all, this is where we grew up
                                     our children were born
                                     and where we go to church
                                     the dots of town must dig deep
                                     among the rubble for their just reason for staying


Sister Lou Ella Hickman is a poet, writer, and spiritual director. Her poems have appeared in numerous magazines such as First Things, Emmanuel, Third Wednesday, and TheNewVerse.News. Her first book of poetry was entitled she: robed and wordless. Sister Lou Ella lives 45 minutes from Rockport, Texas, one of the small towns devastated by Hurricane Harvey that may never recover.

0 Response to "DOTS OF TOWNS MONTHS AFTER HURRICANES HARVEY AND IRMA"

Posting Komentar