THE LAKE CAME TO MY HOUSE

By Niyi Osundare

It all began as a whisper among

The leaves. The tree’s tangled tale

And the wanton narrative of the wind

Then, the pit pat pit pat bing bang bing

Of the hooves of the trampling rain

My shuddering roof, my wounded house

A shunting of shingles

Unraveling of rafters

And the wind dropped a pool

In my living room. The sky

Rumbled like a stricken bull;

Lightning zigzagged its fire through

The darkening clouds. Wind-driven,

Tornado-tormented, the Lake overran

Its fence, pouring its piled-up anger

In the careless streets.

Levees (built with levity)

Collapsed like hapless mounds

Roads lost their names,

Streets their memories

A torrential torment enthralled the city

The day the Lake came down my street

And took my house away.

*From City Without People: The Katrina Poems. Black Widow Press, Boston, MA, 2011.