For Texas
floats beside the chilled bodies still hooked to IVs
and resting in wheelchairs half-covered by dark waters,
smells of “mostly harmless” flood-induced
chemical explosions in the middle of the night,
is the awful mystery of fading submerged headlights
too far to investigate before morning,
is the impossible choice of leaving
and the impossible choice of staying,
is the draining sound of swamp
before the arrival of heavy equipment,
the thousand miles of molding, water-logged things
lining the streets as piled representations of lives,
sinks like hope, but also floats like hope.
Read More:
Harvey’s aftermath: Newly homeless Texans encounter clogged shelter toilets, soggy family photos and heroic rescues [The Washington Post]
The Brief: Harvey moves on while Texas deals with the aftermath [Texas Tribune]
Larry D. Thacker’s poetry can be found or is forthcoming in more than ninety publications including The Still Journal, Poetry South, Tower Poetry Society, Mad River Review, Spillway, The Southern Poetry Anthology, Mojave River Review, Mannequin Haus, Ghost City Press, Jazz Cigarette, and Appalachian Heritage. His books include Mountain Mysteries: The Mystic Traditions of Appalachia and the poetry books, Voice Hunting and Memory Train, as well as the forthcoming, Drifting in Awe. He’s presently working on his MFA in both poetry and fiction.
