20160413 (learning from history)

New Orleans, early September, scene of national suffering, death, and governmental fumbling at every level. I couldn't look away. Spike Lee's, When the Levees Broke--A Requiemhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=12xj1sHvIWA

Downton Abbey notwithstanding

I can tell you when you’ve been

“Glued” to your TV: the killing

Of JFK, the night we landed on

The moon, the murder trial of 

Orenthal J. Simpson, and New 

Orleans during Hurricane Katrina

September 2005. Each event’s

Been discussed as a time of

National significance and been

Analyzed for controversy, 

Conspiracy, and as times of

Either great honor or great shame.

I’m not sure as many watched 

President Bush 41 give his

Speech to the country of the 

Opening of Iraq War 1.0 to the

Background of smart bombs 

Falling on Baghdad, our first

Vision of shock and awe

Which eventually became

Devotees’ screen savers. When 

President Bush 43 pulled the

Same stunt at the opening of 

Iraq War 2.0, shock and awe

Was something of an old show.

President Obama’s opening of 

Iraq War 3.0 was met pretty

Much with a national “ho-hum”

“Not again,” and nothing to see.

The war introductions were brief

By comparison to the torment of

Hurricane Katrina. Studies over 

The years had shown New Orleans

Was a disaster waiting to happen.

With much of the city situated

Below sea level it didn’t need

A level five hurricane to render

Destruction of apocalyptic scale.

Time and again the city fathers

Were warned the levees which held

Back the Mississippi were poorly

Made, insufficient to the task,

Unreliable even on calm summer

Days, much less being pressed

By storm surges which might 

Be as high as thirty feet. How 

Did so many come to “build in 

A flood plain”—the unwisest

Of judgments anyone could

Make? Look around the city.

There was no high ground to

Be had. So many had lived

Upriver with levee breaks

And recovered. It was a risk

They could take they all

Determined—part of their 

Unique customs, acclimated

To southern heat, humidity,

And high water, and the food

Was great, nearby, and cheap.

So many had stuck their heads

In the sand, not just in New 

Orleans but along the whole

Gulf coast, ignoring reports

Of the delta wetlands sinking,

Disappearing under the gulf

Waters—the last barrier to 

Save them from the rush of

Wind-driven waves during a

Storm. Watching the tragedy

Unfold day after day, people

Stuck in a destructive hell,

Abandoned by official powers,

Degraded day after day without

Food or water, soiling themselves

In clothes they couldn’t wash

Or change, watching their sick

And elderly die, the bodies

Piled at the roadside, their

Babies constantly crying. I

Certainly don’t blame them

For the governments’ failures.

So many proved heroic in the

Struggle to keep themselves

Alive and totally weary yet to

Help others. I worked with

Several faithful souls who set

Their own lives aside and went

To rebuild out of love in the 

Aftermath. It was probably not

Any wiser to build again in

A flood plain.

c. J.S.Manista, 2016