Au Revoir Miseria

Au Revoir Miseria

The life was a heaven
With my little daughter
Julie and my sweet wife Amber
I worked in a bar in downtown New Orleans

All was well
And we were doing well
Till the monster
By name Katrina struck

It ravished the city
Broke the leeves
And gushed water to houses
Set waves as high as three stories

I lost my daughter
When she was electrocuted
While crossing a flooded street
On the way to near by bus

I do not know where my wife is
She may have been burnt
Drowned or lost forever
In the melee

The whole town
Is flooded like a field in rains
Nobody knows where the streets are
There are no lights and we are all in dark age

Day and night look alike
The gushing winds nd the heavy down pour
Mixing with painful cries,chopper sounds
And bark of dogs

I see many men, women and children
Wounded and bleeding
Hit by wooden logs
And burnt by flames

The hospital is filled
With cries of pains
Doctors running helter-skelter
With more wounded pouring in day by day

The whole town
Is like a refugee camp
Where people live
In makeshift tents and covered pavements

Buses rarely came
They took whomsoever
They could reach
But many were left behind

There was little left
For eating
Clothes were dirty
And the water was stinking

Choppers hovering over the sky
To douse the flames
Throwing sand bags to tame the leeves
And food packets for people down under

People running mad
To get the packets
Huge trucks in serpentine lines
With food and clothing guarded by cops

Wind brushing against the buildings
Flying off the wooden roofs
Storm water pulling out into the streets
Both dead and living alike

There were vultures ofcourse
Who stole food and clothing
Even in the midst of misery
How they can forget their old habits and ways

There is hell on earth now
On a city that was once vibrant
With madigrass
And colorful nightlife

Why this wrath of God
That too for us
Who is suffering already
In the realm of lost jobs,low wages and indifference

I see dead bodies rotting
Caskets floating in water
This monster has disturbed
Even our sleeping ancestors from their grave

Children crying for their mom and dad
Who they may never see
People helping each other
Black and White giving hands

Fires on buildings
Brave fire-fighters rescuing people
From half burnt and flooded houses
Risking their own lives

Children crying for milk
With no mothers to feed
Dead cats, dogs and human beings
All floating like one and same

I see happiness of re-union
And sorrow of separation
The anger and frustration
For those who did not care

All I am left with
Is my sweet memories
And the teddy bear
Of my beloved child Julie

How long should I weep
And when will I recover
What should I do to forget
I feel like a destiny's child now

Affected aged and young alike
Proved once again
That all are vulnerable
To the fury of mother nature

Let somebody send us
A Noah's arc
Where we all can cuddle
And move off to a distant land

A utopian land
Where there are no miseries and indifference
I know I am hoping against hope
But time is running out for you and me