Watt's Gnus

Her Hell is Hotter than Your Hell

...a weather report... Henri slams into Rhode Island. Grace scours Veracruz. Fred floods the Carolinas. Do Floridians care?

That's just a tropical storm. That's just a bit of rain. They're predicting a storm somewhere in the Atlantic in ten days. Is it headed to Tampa?

There was some concern for the Haitians with Grace after the earthquakes. Some whooping with glee when Grace became a Category 3 and therefore the first major hurricane of the season.

But... on to the next storm.

I follow Yale Climate Connections. Lots of Floridians with lots of hurricane experience but some complete assholes who don't understand that predictions serve as fair-weather warnings. A real disconnect between fantasy and reality.

Reality: Rhode Island is in the middle of a tropical storm (landed at Waverly). The winds were not as strong as feared. The rains have just begun as Henri may stall over Connecticut and pour out its tears for the next day or two. Flooding is now a concern. How bad a storm? Ask on Wednesday after it leaves. Silly to ask now.

A poetic interlude before I discuss the title:

Ex

Note this naked swirl
twirling around an empty center,
a band of clouds without a chance of rain,
the definition of nothing fading to become a ghost
that not even radar can be bothered with.
I detect your disdain
your quick dismissal
but once I was a force of nature,
once trees bowed before my winds.
Now in my nakedness they mock me,
offering their shame-covering leaves
to others.

© Copyright 2021 Kåre Enga [178.210] (18.agosto.2021)

"Ex [210]" 

Grace in the arms of Haiti

Embraced by the arms of Haiti,
Grace twirls in a whirlwind of eddies.
She's Mexico bound.

Yet she stops to bathe on the beach in Jamaica,
dances to the beat of the waves against trees,
passes on by with a flick of her tongue.

She's westward bound on a mission
to prove the Aztecs and Mayans wrong.
The world doesn't end according to legend.

It ends when she says so.

© Copyright 2021 Kåre Enga [178.208] (16.agosto.2021)

"Grace in the arms of Haiti [208]" 

Now... back to the scheduled program.

Many years ago a friend helped me, but a mutual friend had her husband leave at the same time. Messy. My friend told me that my situation wasn't as bad as our friend needed greater support for an impending divorce. I hope she did okay.

In the meantime I lost everything, ended up homeless, when I received news that my house had burned down there was no emotional energy left over to react.

I was already homeless but over the next two years I ended up in a homeless shelter. Quite the experience as I couldn't see a way out. I survived due to the kindness of strangers for 4 years (2003-2007).

Now? I still have nightmares from the past.

Not all storms have warnings. Not all warnings are heeded. Not all storms are over in a day. Not everyone handles it in the same way. Not all survive.

Ask those presently in refugee camps around the world.

The winds and floods will come and go, but the kibitzers will pop their popcorn glued to the screen.

Bottom line: it's not fair to compare pain. My Hell is mine alone ... except for those I've shared it with.

~550 words
posted in "Blogville " 

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