Sunday, August 29, 2010

In remembrance and with awe, five years later…

Sometimes the river is high.
Sometimes the river is low.
But we who live in river cities know that the river is never still…never silent…never really calm.
1,836 people…
Sometimes the levees hold.
….mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, cousins, co-workers, friends, strangers…
Sometimes the water come right over.
1,836 human beings lost their lives to Hurricane Katrina and what came after.
That water can be your best friend…providing work, food and transportation.
And that water can be a relentless enemy…taking and taking, rising and rising…flexing power without mercy and wrecking havoc sans compassion.
I’ve not forgotten…can’t imagine how a mind could forget what water and wind and disorganization, corruption and apathy can do.
Sometimes the river is high.
But today I pause in remembrance of those who died and those who mourn their loss.
Sometimes the river is low.
And I stand in awe of those who remain and returned to be a part of rebuilding the region.
The water is never still.
Never silent…
…or ever really calm.
Y’all go on now.
Always moving forward.
Go on.
Always

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I continue to be troubled by the saga of the levees breaking. It is amazing to me that they did not receive the maintenance they needed over the years. We humans can be so negligent. I have seen the pictures and the lives destroyed and can not forget watching people wade through all that water and the conditions of the Superdome "refugee camp. Truly horrible.I am happy to hear the people like Oprah, Brad Pitt and Habitat for Humanity are down there helping to rebuild. I hope to get down there sometime soon to help myself. I can't believe it is still so bad. If this is not a time for better environmental policy I don't know when will be. Proper care of the environment will help New Orleans.

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