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| Storm-damaged Rockport, Texas homes are seen in this Sunday, Aug. 25, 2017 aerial photo. Mortgage delinquency rates soared in September and October in many of the coastal and other cities flooded by Harvey, including Houston, Beaumont and Corpus Christi, according to new data from real estate analytics company CoreLogic. —San Antonio Express-News, January 15, 2018 |
of course, there will be long, massive work
for big names like
houston and miami however rubble
is also rubble in the dots of towns
with their downed trees and power lines
roofs sheared off walls that caved
these are the invisible ones living between and around bigness
dots of towns in a litany of counties
that lost schools, citrus groves, hole in the wall cafes
that didn’t make the news
the question now
will the police officers, librarians, butchers, teachers and bakers go elsewhere
or will they like some of the volunteer firemen decide to stay
after all, this is where we grew up
our children were born
and where we go to church
the dots of town must dig deep
among the rubble for their just reason for staying
Sister Lou Ella Hickman is a poet, writer, and spiritual director. Her poems have appeared in numerous magazines such as First Things, Emmanuel, Third Wednesday, and TheNewVerse.News. Her first book of poetry was entitled she: robed and wordless. Sister Lou Ella lives 45 minutes from Rockport, Texas, one of the small towns devastated by Hurricane Harvey that may never recover.
