When Odette Typhoon Strikes Poem by Elizabeth Padillo Olesen

A day in December, the year 2021
when people prepare their homes
for the festive days of Christmas
and Odette strikes without mercy
uprooting trees and houses, smashing boats
and people, whipping and lashing
and throwing them
to the deeps of the angry sea.

Remote fishing islands, towns and villages,
provinces and cities lie in ruins and mourn.
Never before that a typhoon should leave
a gigantic and merciless devastation, making
people cry for food, water, roof over their heads
and boats to help them rise up and survive.
Furthermore, darkness and isolation dwell
as power lines are still unrestored.