FOREVER GONE

This is a flashback to Hurricane Katrina:

Nobody hears them now
Unfortunately so,
But nobody heard them then
When their screams were loud
Or saw their trickling tears because of fears
Of existence no more
Because of overflow waters and sewage and insanity
And willpower gone, vanished because of souls tarnished
But only if somebody had listened, somebody of authority
Of national command
Of strong morals
Maybe the caskets would not have been so vast
With body after body, thousands in devastating count
As New Orleans, city of once sweet- sounding jazz,
All night dancing and drinking just getting washed away
All the electricity and good food
All the happiness turned into dimness
And all because nobody heard them
Their pleas, prayers for life extension
Because of what they saw, heard in high volume
Because of the speed and power, mercilessness
Oh Katrina, the hurricane that killed dreams, jobs
Far too many lives, good people, unsuspecting, maybe suspecting because of the repeated warnings,
“Get out of town and run and live to talk and eat, maybe, laugh another day,”
But far too many were helpless, not enough money in pocket or bank to escape
Escape the wrath of the mighty, mighty
swift- moving waters
That turned the city of New Orleans into a city
of the swimming dead
Unfortunately, so, so sadly
Because now nobody will ever hear them again.

Note: Poem will be published in my soon-to-be-released "Undaunted," an Ebony Energy Publishing production.