i can't write about anything else

scrawled 3.07.2006 by miss.abi | E-mail this post

as if it wasn't enough.

water that filled
20 feet of life
leaving behind not so much
as a towel
to dry the sweat and tears
off faces that baked
in days of hot louisiana sun
atop roofs with H-E-L-P
spelled out in rocks
SOS to passing choppers
in choppa city
baby goes to Atlanta
mama left behind
finds
bus to Baton Rouge
sardine can livin
repeat the story 50 times.

as if it wasn't enough.
tent cities and
squatters rights
in streets that ain't seen no
recovery effort
for the histories of families
no meat left on the skeletons
of houses
destroyed beyond recognition
new orleans diaspora
blown on the winds of disaster
your ashes have been scattered

but folks cant mourn too long
when there's bills to pay
rent credit expired
welcome mat pulled back
wristbands slapped on hands
attached to wrists
bent and broken
nails dirtied
from tryin to claw their way
up out the hole

as if it wasnt enough
what's next?
tattooed barcodes and
containment camps?
third reich in the third ward?
"evacuee" status
like the mark of the beast
while the media spins
special reports
inside editions
statistics
the hype
please dont believe it
big daddy
they're in your backyard now
time to
slap more badges on
hot headed kids
signing bonuses to patrol the masses

because god forbid we use more federal money to find them houses.

as if it wasnt enough

why must the heart
see through the lens of separation
and why do fingers extend easier to point blame
than hands join to uplift
have our minds become so clouded
as to forget
we are but our brothers' keeper?