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Allysa

Senior Member

since 1999-11-09

Posts 1952
In an upside-down garden

0 posted 2015-08-09 10:35 PM

She knows
the streets of that city
like the lines of her hand
their paths crossing at intersections
she still sees in her head

when her mind goes flat
and her eyes close
the city spreading before her
like an outstretched palm
she imagines
the cobblestone streets and
the buildings with their
wrought iron balconies, all different

large Xs adorn the houses
like crucifixes knocked askew
the scars of another time
reciting the prayer of the city
when they crossed themselves
in the name of the new day,
of the dead and the living,
and the rescue teams
never to come

she walks this labyrinth slowly
kicking her feet through the trash
following each line until it meets another
the memories exploding
like tiny car crashes in her head

sometimes-
even though it's been

seven years

since the last time
she breathed the city air
stiff with the smell of the river
the bodies gorged on water
the sewage-

sometimes,
if she thinks hard enough
she can still feel it.

The smooth stones beneath her feet
the way her bamboo sandals
wrapped around every groove
sticking in the cracks with each step.

How,
when she closed her eyes
she could see the water
rising up through the wards
up through the streets,
up to the quarter it never touched

just as quickly,
it washes away
taking with it the photographs
the discarded plastic cups
the walls and insulation that couldn't save them
the shingles and attic treasures
that solidified their fate

when it all disappears
she is left with nothing more
than the way the warm September air
wrapped her in its arms
like a hug from her
long-dead grandmother
the gusts filling
her lungs until
she chokes.

Elizabeth

Moderator

Member Ascendant

since 1999-06-07

Posts 6871
Minnesota

1 posted 2016-09-08 11:15 PM

These are some very powerful images, Allysa....was this about Hurricane Katrina?

Bluesy Socrateaser
Member Elite

since 2002-11-07

Posts 2417
In The Mirror

2 posted 2018-04-13 03:40 AM

For the living, it's cyclic. Not the first nor shall it be the last.

The planet is so alive!

...just bein' Bluesy

Clare Ite
Member
Posts 66
Where The Pallet Pins Play

3 posted 2018-07-21 01:14 AM

That weather is "cyclical", is, of course, historically true, Bluesy.
But that is from 'without', where there is no pain, just occurrence.
The human experience is within, where it hurts.
Very well-expressed.

I always have time for you...

Bluesy Socrateaser
Member Elite

since 2002-11-07

Posts 2417
In The Mirror

4 posted 2019-01-02 08:46 PM

Agreed!

...just bein' Bluesy

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