Bienville
(nominated from Poets.org to go to the September 2007 IBPC)
It is my job
to distill the news
and e-mail it to my dad
who gets half an hour
twice a day
on the Internet
at the Alexandria library
to see if his house
has taken on water
there is a lot I read
but don’t send
a woman floating
her dead husband to the hospital
on an unhinged door
the dogs
the rescue workers describe
frying in the power lines
people trying
to break into Children’s Hospital
as if there weren’t enough
sadness there
for just one place
but between us
there is that one house
on Ridgeway Drive
that hasn’t taken water
and Great-Aunt Nialta
who expects a phone call
to make sure
you got home safe.
Categories: Poetry