HURRICANES AND DAYS OF RAIN

Hurricanes and days of rain
create floods
which deluge a city
turn it upside down

swept away are houses and cars
roofs and walls
all that people own
leaving them with nothing

pain and anguish is all that's left
yet worse than the loss of their physical possessions
is the loss of their personal things
family photos, heirlooms, keepsakes
all the treasures of a lifetime.

When these are gone there is nothing to hold on to
stripped of their selves
people become empty shells
sounds without an echo
only emptiness is left within their broken hearts

such is the hell of hurricanes
lives are ruined with the loss of little treasures
pieces of a lifetime that can never be replaced

therein lies the tragedy, like the loss of a child
one cannot replace a memory

yet off in the distance is the timid sun
trying to come out
and onto this the people cling

underneath the tears of human suffering
lies always that faint glimmer
of the human soul
that eternal flame called hope.