Richard Morrison
Texas
from the shivering possum
to the cowering hawk
the distraught
mother going off on the CNN reporter
the family disappeared
in their van as it’s swept up
and sinks in the dark rising
water there is too much
pain and strife and suffering
for all this innocence
lost unfathomable
mediated terror explodes
forsaken plants bloom
on the chemical horizon
The Poet Writes: This poem, written in response to Hurricane Harvey (but before Maria hit Puerto Rico later in the season), seems to resonate in terms of the larger issues of climate change, environmental deregulation, and the humanitarian crisis at the US-Mexico border.
Richard Morrison’s poems have appeared in Provincetown Arts and Christopher Street, among other publications. He holds an MFA in poetry from Columbia University (1991) and currently serves as editorial director for Fordham University Press.
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