A New Coming

(written after Hurricane Katrina)

I see the breathing of my dog and I think

of the heavy wind that moves through the mouths and lungs

of those of the South

and the rush of the air that will move

as the hammer strikes the nail to rebuild the structure of their lives.

Move, move, air with quickness and with life

and carry hope to the hopeless.

Run, smooth air, through the crevices of the hands that take hold

of the people layered with dirt, anger, and regret

and slip through the cracks of indifference

to breath new life of spirit in our nation of all peoples.

Fill our blood with the oxygen of clarity

that pulses from our veins to our irises

so that we will see truth.

The truth that suffering has its place

in a universe of Gods and Goddesses

that design beauty to come from pain.

And that the light of a New Day, A New Coming

will come soon through the wind of change

carried on the back of our eagle’s spirit.