This poem uses Emilio's donated line as a the first one.
CATFIGHT
Barking neon illuminates
the trash strewn street – dogs
crying for night;
the city burns
under their electric canine piss.
The Quarter hums,
poised, stomach tight,
bracing herself for a sadistic
sideways rain lashing.
Neon and souls
still churn inside her flesh,
clutching at beads
which soon float
as shiny plastic rainbow legions
inside new rivers
that flow where
rivers didn't used to flow
with asphalt avenues
for riverbeds. She
is held underwater until she
loses thirteen hundred
souls. A cosmic
catfight: her versus Katrina. Nails
and hair are
flying in a
whirlwind of chaos. She falls,
bruised and bloodied,
onto the earth.
Even now, she still tends
to her wounds.
But she is not dead yet.
By Nicole Nicholson from
Raven's Wing Poetry
You may purchase her new chapbook, Raven's Feathers, by visiting here
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4 comments:
Wow, that poem is amazingly powerful. It really makes me aches for the Katrina victims and feel the devastation all over again.
Wow what a great poem! As the storm is bearing down on the gulf states, this piece makes me want to take a minute and pray for those at risk.
Some times A couple of feral cats will fight late at night under my house. The wailing is so eerie and haunting. In my mind I can relate that to the wind of a powerful storm as it begins to hit the coast. I love the phrase "Whirlwind of chaos". It is so much like a storm, and a catfight.
Fantastic poem Raven !!!
Emilio
this poem moves with tremendous energy through the build up of tension, the rush of conflict, the price to be paid and finally, thankfully, survival despite the wounding ...
there are so many beautiful images here ... and i adore how you've paced this towards that closing line .... slowing it all down as chaos fades ...
makes the reader feel s/he too weathered the storm, thankful to be alive ...
lovely writing!
Lovely.
I so love the last 2 lines.
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