When the Levee Floods the City

When the Levee Floods the City

(out of Louie Armstrong )

We are traveling roads we do not know
seeking shelter and the higher ground
not knowing if we will be reunited
if our children will ever be found.

Oh, when the levee floods the City
when the levee floods the City
Oh lord, I’ll be homeless in that number,
when the levee floods the City.

And when storm clouds hide the sun
and when storm clouds hide the sun
Oh lord, I’ll be homeless in that number,
when the levee floods the City.

When the water turns green with stench
When the water turns green with stench
Oh lord, I’ll be lost in that number,
when the levee floods the City.

On that hellish dayOn that hellish day
Oh lord, I’ll be on my way to glory,
when the levee floods the City.
Oh, when evacuation is called
Oh, when evacuation is called

Oh lord, I’ll be thirsty on the road,
when the levee floods the City.
Some say this City is all trouble, never to be rebuilt
Oh lord, I want a hammer in my hand
when the new Orleans rises from the flood.

When the government finally comes
When the government finally comes
Oh lord, I’ll believe it when I see it
if the government finally comes.

When the man returns to rebuild
When the man returns to rebuild
Oh lord, I want to be dancing in the streets,
when the man returns to see his loss.

When the water returns to the lake
when the water returns to the river
Oh lord, I want to be in the City,
when the water returns to the lake.

When we all have a home and family
When we all have a home and family
Oh lord, I want to be in that number,
when we all join our family in the City.

When our leaders learn humility
When our leaders learn honesty
Oh lord, I want to be in that number
When the truth comes marching in.

Copyright 2005 Gary Blankenship

Gary Blankenship is offering the above poem gratis to any artist who records it with the proceeds going to disaster relief.

The first band to sign up is http://www.plenitud.us/HomePage.html

Fall MindFire: The Eye of the Coming Storm

Fall MindFire: The Eye of the Coming Storm www.mindfirerenew.com

The current issue of MindFire is devoted to the disaster in the Gulf Coast with a special section – The Eye of the Coming Storm. We are publishing reports from the field – the stories of friends who live in the Gulf and were devastated, some on the edges, living in fear of what might come or where their family was, an explanation of hurricanes by a wind engineer, poetry from the ground, and a plea to donate. In addition, the issue contains a reprint of Jack Myer’s line break essay, Sharon Old’s letter to Laura Bush, reviews, poetry, experimental and otherwise, great art and photos from the Gulf and elsewhere.

We regret the issue is not finished and some of the regional sections are missing. We wanted to get Eye of the Coming Storm to you in a timely manner. We will roll out the remainder of the pages over the next three weeks. This is our Dust Bowl, and we need to listen to the victims and understand what it means in Fargo, Bellingham, Palm Springs, Chicago, Russell, and all the small towns, cities, and spaces between.

It might be us next, though with the hurricane season not over, it might be them again.

We are all in this together.

Thank you.

Gary Blankenship

Three tanka published in Japan

Finally something worthy of blogging

I have been honored with 3 tanka in the Tanka Society of Japan's 2005 anthology - in Japanese. The poems are from the River Wang Tanka.

In a world
without walls,
there are no windows
to hold the moon,
my songs, your voice.

Summer's
pack ice far, far
from shore;
beluga calves
pass by unnoticed.

At play
in wet red clay
children laugh
at how their pies taste
without almonds.

Smiles, huge smiles.

Gary

September 8, after Katrina

I need to stop listening to the news, nothing there to put me in a better mood...

Everyone except the victims can be blamed for the aftermath, no one for the wind's punishment of the gulf coast.

For a very good account of the 1900 Galveston hurricane read Issac's Storm by Erik Lawson. The official count about 6000 dead may be as high as 20000, many buried in mass graves, uncounted.

And for an account of how minorities used to be treated in a hurricane read Black Cloud: The Great Florida Hurricane of 1928 by Eliot Kleinberg

A chilling story of true racism.

katrina
stirs my heart
as I channel surf

Gary

September 7, 2005 My first post

I've resisted, but have decided to see whether a blog will work for the Dawg. Especially one in a lousy mood.

To blog
or not to blog,
why ask cause the answer
as obvious as the nose on
your face

Okay, a cliche. I said my mood was lousy.

Later.

Gary B