[New-Poetry] Hurricanes

[Richard Wilsnack]

Halvard Johnson's "exercise" to...
>>
>> 9. Imagine the poem as a hurricane.
>>

...got me to wondering about what poets have written about
hurricanes, not just ordinary storms.

One such poem sticks in my memory, rightly or wrongly.
Perhaps others can offer better examples than this.

Richard W. Wilsnack
rwilsnac at medicine.nodak.edu

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Problems with Hurricanes

A campesino looked at the air
and told me
with hurricanes it's not the wind
or the noise or the water.
I'll tell you he said.
It's the mangoes, avocados,
green plantains and bananas
flying into town like projectiles.

How would your family
feel if they had to tell
the generations that you
got killed by a flying
banana.

Death by drowning has honor.
If the wind picked you up
and slammed you
against a mountain boulder
this would not carry shame.
But
to suffer a mango smashing
your skull
or a plantain hitting your
temple at 70 miles per hour
is the ultimate disgrace.

The campesino takes off his hat ―
as a sign of respect
toward the fury of the wind
and says
Don't worry about the noise.
Don't worry about the water.
Don't worry about the wind.
If you are going out
beware of mangoes
and all such beautiful
sweet things.

 From Maraca: New and Selected Poems 1965-2000
by Victor Hernández Cruz

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