New Orleans Poem by Gregory Huyette

This landmark is a distressed city
Near a wretched, yet predictable sea;
Blown down, then drowned
By an ocean of enmity.

During man’s course of life,
Such tragedies will lead him astray.
It’s then that government of the people
Must show its people the way.

A plan is hope in a storm of mistrust
Which conceals most accessible land.
With a guide, rebirth is demonstrably near
When today it’s not close at hand.

The cost of prevention is a fraction
Of the cure that they now must pay.
Years and untold reactions can’t suffice
For lives lost on this terrible day.

Now many are forced into vast expanses
Where they have no confidence or skill.
With family broken and only a bus token,
The present seems an eye calm and still.

At the end of New Orleans’ ordeal
After publicity and memory quit.
The outcome of this struggle will result
From what people and governments commit.