Friday, November 02, 2012

Poetry Friday: Another Hurricane Poem

Amy from The Poem Farm posted this poem, by a Puerto Rican poet, on Facebook this week. It was perfect for us, drying out from the storm, and I hope it doesn't seem frivolous if you're in New Jersey or New York. Believe me, I don't make light of hurricanes, this or any other. The latest statistics show that there were 157 deaths from this storm, and 51 of them were in Haiti. The damage doesn't have such high cost estimates here because people don't start off with as much to lose. All that said, I love this poem, especially the last line, so be sure to click through to read that.

Problems with Hurricanes
by Victor Hernández Cruz

 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.

Here's the rest.

And here's today's Poetry Friday roundup.

14 comments:

Katya said...

My husband almost got brained by a flying chimney cap -- it landed on the back deck seconds after he came inside. He was gathering water for a science experiment we were taking part in. That would have been less horrible than a banana. :-)

That's such a great poem -- thanks for sharing it.

iza said...

An appropriate poem. Flying fruit! Oh the many dangers of hurricanes..

Andromeda Jazmon said...

LOVE that ending! It's so true - thi thing about hurricanes is that you get slammed by the one thing you forgot to consider. I am remembering Haiti in my prayers.

Author Amok said...

Hi, Ruth. I LOVE this poem. I posted an excerpt on my facebook page this week. I'd been talking about mangoes (related to poison ivy -- I didn't know) with friends and brought up this poem. What a great combination of humor and danger.

Lorie Ann Grover said...

Loved it, Ruth. Such bittersweet irony. My parents lost their home to Hurricane Andrew.

Donna Smith said...

My daughter was telling me that they are resuming classes in PA near her, but that parents are being told to dress their children in warm clothes and bring a flashlight...no heat, no lights...but at least they won't have to go to school until August.

jama said...

Something the average person wouldn't consider -- projectile fruit.

Sorry to hear about the deaths in Haiti. It feels like the planet is going crazy with so many super violent destructive storms.

Joyce Ray said...

Ruth, thanks for this poem. It certainly highlights the unforeseen dangers that often comes from these awful storms we are enduring lately.

Linda said...

I love this one, especially the last stanza! I'm glad you and your family made it safely through the storm.

Tabatha said...

How are you doing? Glad you're keeping your sense of humor and appreciation of absurdity. I've saved this poem before -- it's a good one.

Linda B said...

I saw this too on Facebook, Ruth. It's just the truth, isn't it? I had this conversation with a student this week who was trying to make sense of the storms & the damage. In one of our most destructive fires this past summer, an occasional house was left standing, untouched. People speculated for a long time how hard it would be to have survived. Perhaps, like death by mango, there is no honor in survival. I am glad you are ok, but know that you are concerned about the damage that has been done.

Mary Lee said...

With so much tragedy following Sandy, it did feel good to have a snort of laughter at what Jama correctly termed "projectile fruit"!!

laurasalas said...

Fantastic poem. Dark humor is one of my favorite moods in poetry:>)

Liz Steinglass said...

The contrasts and juxtapositions are so powerful.