CAMILE

I'm from Florida, moved to the coast of Miss. in '69. my first hurricane was Camile, came ashore with winds at 190mph... many more since then.

The hurricane comes

in a rhythm of waves

sufficient with each shouted

susurration to build

destruction on a weary land.

Pushing and shoving,

rolling over herself.

wallowing in a surety of

strength. She batters the beach;

posing lithe, translucent muscles

for artists.

She cavorts with wide-eyed

sailors bound for the bottom,

leaving figments of her own

imagination as tales for

the men who ran for cover

in her wake:

then, like a spent lover,

lies perfectly still to

greet the morning sun.

Reviews

[Lorry]

She sounds like a wrong'un to me Vol, but aren't they all?
They blow in, like someone about to cross the point of no return and lose their something that rhymes with bit, devastating all who have the temerity to be in her way, with no regard for class, or any of the other things we think important, like race, sex, age, good or bad, and next thing you know, her fury is spent and the new days begin like nothing happened. Although I doubt the people whose homes are now turned to kindling would forget any time soon.
Although one thing does surprise me every time we see this on the news, that the victims rarely see themselves as that and are just glad they survived and all band together, knowing that it is only possessions and it can all be replaced.
The human spirit shows through in the strangest of places, yet if the same thing happened here, it would be considered the end of the world.
But when things like hurricanes do happen here, the news try to make it sound like it's devastating, when I'm reality a chimney pot got cracked and a cat got a fright.... Doesn't quite have the same impact, does it? 😊

[Vol]

Lorry,
All the time I lived along the coast and watched these disasters... drive down a beach one day, and look at all the bars, hotels and pretty pink, green, and blue houses overlooking the waves, and the next day everything broken and scattered, I'd wonder, how it was legal to build in zones that were guaranteed such destruction. Then I'd think, insurance replaces it all, thousands of construction workers are employed and building materials bought again... The banks loaned more money and the economy was well oiled. Today most of the insurance companies have pulled out of Florida, so we'll have to wait and see what happens next.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

absolutely love the last three lines.
the voracious sensual appetite sated...the calmness afterward...
used to be we had that cigarette after feeling spent from the hurricane of passion.
j.

[Vol]

Jacob,
Yes! Like the ocean's lifted middle finger taken literally and rough sex following till there is no energy left...
Vol

[Kelly Scheppers]

At first glance of your title, I thought this was about a Greta Garbo movie. I love the poetic nature you've bestowed upon mother nature, herself. She packs a mighty wrath in her wake, pretty much like your prowess for the written word!

[Vol]

Kelly!
Thank you... I lived in Pensacola for almost ten years before we moved to the coast of Mississippi in March of '69. I could hit the Gulf of Mexico with a rock from our back porch. On August 17, Camile came in with 190 mph winds. When we were finally able to clear enough trees from the roads and get home on the eighteenth, the only thing left was the Terrazzo floor and both bathtubs. There were crab traps twenty feet up in the pine trees which somehow survived.

[Kelly Scheppers]

Wow, pretty devastating to read, even now in the wake of all these years.

[Vol]

Kelley,
Always brightens things when you show up! The nice thing about hurricanes is you know when they're coming...not like Earthquakes
Vol

[Kelly Scheppers]

Aww, I appreciate that, Vol...thanks so much!