As Hurricane Isaac now bears down on New Orleans,
I remember the one named Katrina, so vicious and mean
“One need not be a chamber to be haunted,
One need not be a house;
The brain has corridors surpassing
Material place.”
Emily Dickinson
August 28, 2005
Seven years have now passed
And I still remember their pain
So many of their lives, and mine
Will never again, ever be the same
I had planned to travel to the Gulf Coast once
But many of us realized we couldn’t stay away
I ended up journeying down there four times
And most of my memories are still vivid today
This truly horrendous storm took far too much
From too many souls, that most horrendous day
May one like her, never come stalking them, again
May none of them ever again, be so forgotten this way
It has now been estimated, that nearly half a million
Companion animals were left behind, in this hurricane
We eventually managed to rescue about 15,000 of them
The rest were lost, in the howling wind and merciless rain
Those surviving, forced to somehow fend for themselves
And, it was the haunted look, in far too many of their eyes
That will live on in my mind, for the rest of my natural days
That still make so many of us who went there, still want to cry
But I also have some extremely fond, everlasting, remembrances
Of extremely dedicated rescue volunteers, from all over our planet
Who helped each other cope with the horrific images we all beheld
Renewing our vows, to never take our earthly neighbors, for granted
Now seven years later, I still have three Katrina survivors in my home
Who remind me every day, just how precious companion animals are
And very often, I have to wake the three of them, from their nightmares
For all four of us, no matter how much time passes, this storm is never far
I’ve Linked One Of The Katrina Pet Rescue Videos Below;
My Memories Are Vivid, Even Though It Was 7 Years Ago:
©August 27, 2012, Mr. Ed
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