Poem for the day - pre-Katrina, actually

Where do the dead go?
Lifeless, disoriented, yet memoried still;
The places in between the rich and poor,
The brick and clay, and dim and dark --
These are the habitations of those who no longer are.
Long thoughts abide, no way to end,
Caught 'twixt teem and nil, abundance and lack,
These dwell around, unseen but not unfelt.
I feel their left-behind selves, see their want
In every dim alley, scrub-lined side yard, kudzu-vined barrier.
The dead occupy that space between breaths;
Few mind their presence but pay no heed.
Close your eyes and sense; space is not empty.
Embrace, adjust, but don't ignore;
Live with and remember.

Anger of the day

Have been watching coverage of the hurricane aftermath since Monday -- the images sicken me and tear my heart out. To think that in this modern day, such an event can happen -- it's beyond belief, beyond comprehension, beyond what the mind can take in. The pictures get worse and worse with each day, even with the sanitization of the television screen. The stories get more rending with each telling. I have no words to describe the horror.

I've been increasingly angry with what I'm watching on the outskirts of the coverage, though, and two issues in particular: the severe loss of humanity of those people left in the city, and the growing politicality of the response to the hurricane. Today the "shoot to kill" order was given to the National Guard for their defense against the armed looters -- it came none too soon for my taste. I can understand and even sympathize to a point with those looking for food and water, and clothing and medicine. I can't say that if put in the same circumstances, I wouldn't do the same thing, if it meant clothes on my kids' back and food in their mouths. The sheer nerve and attitude to taking items other than the necessities -- DVD players, video games, jewelry -- astounds me, though, and makes me wish that I didn't have to call these people by the same name of "human" as I call myself. What loss of decency and self-worth and simple morals do you have to go through to lower yourself to these acts -- and be proud of them? I see the looters smiling and waving at the cameras as they kick down doors and hold up their stash -- what makes people so insanely full of themselves think this is right, or good, or forgivable?

The other issue that makes my blood boil is the blame being put on the federal agencies and president for not being prepared enough for the possiblity of this catastrophe. I don't agree blindly with all of the president's decisions, and I don't trust the government to always do what I see best for myself. However, I don't see it as quite fair or justifiable to make the storm victims a political issue; I feel quite sure they don't see themselves as pawns in the political game right now. While preparations could have been and were made prior to Katrina, including the mandatory evacuation of the city of New Orleans, there was no way to accurately foresee the full devastation this storm could bring -- it simply had never happened before, and the results could not have been totally and exactly anticipated. The country as a whole was rocked by the hurricane, and I believe a long moment was spent simply assimilating the damage as a whole before relief efforts started. I don't know if that's a fault, but I do know that time used to debate the effectiveness of the current governmental structure could be far better used now to aid those stranded and hungry and homeless. To look for blame at this point is time wasted on the people of Louisiana and Mississippi and Alabama.