Hurricane Haiku

Wind 

Whipping, raging, mad
Gallop wild with forceful grab
Thief turns happy sad

Aivazovsky, Ivan 43- Russian (1817-1900) Storm

Rain 

Sideways, stinging, slants

Shards and sheets of stinging spit
Storm surge swells swift streams.

Flood 

Rivulets of mud

Expand, exclaim eerily,
“I am King of all!”

NASA/NOAA GOES Project Hurricane Matthew, Oct. 8, 2016, PUBLIC DOMAIN

Trees 

Raping freighter bends

Resistance snaps futile bow
Roots undressed lay bare.

Homes 

Mine! The monster cries

Abodes lay shredded, downsized,
A part of me dies

Hurricane Camille, 1969, NOAA Public Domain Photos

Power 

Electricity

Gone in one fell swooping blow
Hints at days of yore

Rescue 

In destruction seek

For strangers with flint-like stare
Determined saviors

US Troops Heading to Port-au-Prince at the request of the Haitian Government, Oct. 6, 2016 to aid in humanitarian relief after Hurricane Matthew's devastation. NOAA Public Domain.

Rebuild 

Hope has the last word

Human chaos loudly heard
Helpers hearts are stirred

Sunrise 

Tomorrow will come                     

Torrid air made fresh, clean
Tears we trade for calm 

Atlantic Ocean Sunrise, Katharine Micks, photograher. Used by permission. 

    

© 2016 Nancy Gerst. Written October 9, 2016 following Hurricane Matthew which brought destruction in Haiti and the Carribean, and along the southeastern United States from Florida to North Carolina.  

MUSIC LINKS

  

The Tempest, Op. 18, Tchaikovsky

Master the Tempest Is Raging - based on the gospel story of the disciples in the storm tossed sea with Jesus.