by Geoffrey Philp
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Hurricane Beryl has ripped across the Caribbean with winds of 150mph tearing roofs from buildings, uprooting trees and devastating the islands in its path. —BBC, July 4, 2024. Souvouyant graphic via The Compendium of Arcane Beasts and Critters. |
It was only a glancing blow, they said, when Beryl wrapped her arms around the island's spine, pinning us inside our home, avocadoes pelting our roof whose nails barely held against the howls that tore blossoms off the naseberries nestled in the dried gully, which became a river before she overturned fishing boats and ripped houseboats from their moorings. And all the while, she wailed like a Soucouyant, drowning our prayers, leaving us knee-deep in the storm surge, the floods, as boulders tumbled down the mountains into islands of leafless mangroves, the briny odor clinging to my hair.
coiled at the center
of the hurricane's fury:
screams of Africans
Geoffrey Philp, a Silver Musgrave Medal recipient, is the author of Archipelagos, a book of poems about climate change which was long-listed for the Laurel Prize. Philp’s Twelve Poems and a Story for Christmas retells the nativity story, transporting readers back to that holy night in a fresh yet traditional way. His poem “A Prayer for My Children” is featured on The Poetry Rail—an homage to 12 writers who shaped Miami's culture. He is working on a children’s book, Marsha: The Mangrove Guardian, and is anticipating the release of his graphic novel My Name is Marcus on September 15, 2024.