Tanka Sequence

                                                               WHEN DISASTER COMES

                                                            (Hurricane Sandy, October 2012)

                                                                   snug in my home

                                                                   with after dinner coffee–

                                                                   is it luck or fate?

                                                                   that we are here not there

                                                                   with just each other and hope

                                                                 

                                                                    day after day                       

                                                                    the mundane things I do

                                                                    with barely a thought

                                                                    until I remember

                                                                    the speed in which life changes

                                                                    bleak images

                                                                    the fodder of nightmares

                                                                    the truth of now;

                                                                    helplessness prevails

                                                                    hopelessness bores deeper

      

                                                                     day becomes night

                                                                     and becomes day again

                                                                     with still no answer

                                                                     why some were chosen

                                                                     and others spared

                                                                     from home to market

                                                                     all my wants granted

                                                                     how easy to forget

                                                                     those with neither home nor food

                                                                     and only sky for shelter

                                                                     thanking God

                                                                     for keeping family safe,

                                                                     guilty with relief

                                                                     I accept each day

                                                                     as a slippery gift

Cattails, Jan. 2014