The Green Wall

2.

the poetic fusion of life and people,

and invisible things, little things, cats and bugs,

and flowers planted in bordered beds
all parallel now with loss

and all the while,
angels seemed to be missing

 

 

 

 

Missing - Front Beach 1

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3.

winds raked Lantana blooms,
swirled them up confetti-like,

stripped Live Oaks of leaves, ferns, and hanging moss,

sea gulls huddled tightly into feathery balls,

wedged themselves with small feet into sand,
and swayed to torturous rhythms

 

 

 

Missing - Front Beach 2

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4.

a time unknown
mirrored in a grey sky filled

as feathery notes were plucked to fly
with blooms pulled straight in lines
from stems to die in strange places

with wind and rain
unceasing

with lives, dreams, and Live Oaks weeping
in unimaginable complexities

 

 

 

. Juxtaposed

5.

the uncatchable waves,
the inconceivable, inconsolable waves washed beaches
into a stoned silence

we waited in attics
washed wet with black water and nights unending,

and food and needs unmet
we prayed unceasing

to no avail we cried

our words died in thick air filled
with humid death and losses inconsolable,

unfound, we died in piles of rubble
deep like the ocean
which washed away our lives.

 

 

 

Blue Roofs - Ocean and Jackson Ave.

6.

from the blue skies of August
those dearest remaining days were lost

on salt-washed St. Augustine
with dislocated sand and shells,

death of birds, cats, fishes, insects,

and all the while,
angels seemed to be missing

 

 

 

Transformed -204 Washington

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7.

with Katrina came the rearrangement of atoms
and molecules and perceptions,
and afterwards . . .

the sun kept rising and setting as usual,
as if nothing had changed,

its burning silence sinking into the ocean,
into the western sky, at some distance
over normalcy....................

away from

this destruction ................this obliteration

 

 

 

Sunflower

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8.

this desolation . . .
these infinite losses and mutilations

life, beauty, and smallest possessions scattered
with leaves of Live Oaks and blossoms

which blew forever into unknown spaces

and the sun rose the next day. . .
proceeded across the blue sky,
faded into the ocean again, unaware,
and the moon rose over the bay

 

 

 

Fractured. - La Fontaine and Washington

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9.

and all the while,
angels seemed to be missing

clocks ticked time over and over,

hands moved from seconds to numbers
accumulating hours and days and weather . . .

sun to rain
to tropical depressions
and hurricanes

 

 

 

 

Terra Cotta Planter - Jackson Ave.

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10.

and all the while,
angels seemed to be missing

when will your coastal bones be radiant again

with tiny magenta stars of Mexican Heather,
Live Oaks green with leaves and moss,
beds of blue hydrangeas, and pungent orange Lantanas,

Will you be here tomorrow and tomorrow?

 

 

 

Inside Out

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11.

i sink into thoughts
like clock hands moving downward to evening,

like the calendar moving to June then August
with its catastrophic visions

i counter with images of blue hydrangea,
Live Oaks heavy with moss, and all those blooming things,
magenta stars of heather,

and all those orange Lantanas
will you be here tomorrow and tomorrow Ocean Springs?
will you be here tomorrow and tomorrow coastal dreams?

 

 

 

Outside In

12.

Navigating Katrina

 

Help us navigate
an emergence from this hold of Katrina
from an everlasting hold of Katrina

from this virtual reality,
our profoundly augmented reality

navigate us toward renewal
for our land, our culture, our homes, our spirits

return us to our shores .

 

 

__________________________________________________

Returning