“Our eyes,

Are the windows to our soul.”

Immanuel Kant

Kant said that our eyes

Are the windows to our soul

Remembering that awful day

I truly believe that this is so

The images that I now carry

In the back of my troubled mind

Are mostly those of the victims’ eyes

Both human and those of the pet kind

As I wandered a department store there

Searching for direly needed rescue supplies

I was struck with the look of dazed confusion

In so many of the local resident shoppers’ eyes

As they slowly shuffled from aisle to aisle

Most of them couldn’t decide just what to buy

Which items should be placed into that cart first

They had to start over – they somehow had to try

Should they purchase knives and forks and plates

So that their family members could once again eat

Or should they first get their very sad little boy or girl

At least one tiny new toy or perhaps something sweet

Time seemed to stand still for me as I watched them

I tried very hard to imagine the hell they were now in

The images of those dazed human eyes after the storm

Keep vividly coming back to me over and over again

And the terrified eyes of the many dogs and cats I saw

When they were first brought to our pet rescue enclosure

Is something that will be etched into my mind until I die

They still run through my mind like a movie over and over

One minute they were leading normal dog and cat lives

Very content to be with their humans on a very typical day

And within only minutes sheer hell had broken loose for them

Left behind in their homes or swimming for their lives in the fray

But even more firmly etched into the back of my mind’s eye

Are the looks of sheer hope as they nervously sat in their pens

Anxiously watching each and every new human approach them

For countless hours each and every day – then over and over again

But when they eventually realized the human being approaching them

Was not the one they were waiting for a darkness soon filled their eyes

That’s when my heart and my soul truly begin aching for each of them

That’s when I began to lose control and that’s when I often began to cry

©2006, Ed Kostro

Katrina Memorial Ceremonies

Will Be Held Today

All Across the United States

Honoring and Remembering

Those Tragically Lost in the Storm

Both Humans and Pets

I Had Planned On Attending One of These Ceremonies
With the Three Katrina Survivors I Brought Home
But a Few Tiny Spiders Had Other Ideas
So I Will Be Spending the Day at Home
With My Three Katrina Friends
And Sadly Remembering
All of Those Truly Forlorn Katrina Eyes
Both Human and Animal

May We Never Forget Them

And May the Mistakes We Made

In This Horrendous Tragedy

Never Be Repeated Again