Hurricane Katrina Horror

Oh, I watched the disaster coverage on my old tv,
And behind the wreckage and victims’ glazed eyes, I see,
Someone hiding in the crowd, ready to duck,
Just another politician passing the buck.


And now I stop a moment and I think hard to see,
If I can remember a single thing the government has done for me.
Police and firemen are wonderful, it’s true.
But nothing else I can think of... Can you?


Oh, but we must be governed, can’t you see?
‘Cause on our own we’d have naught but anarchy.
Just a moment; I’d just like to say,
Even that would work, if we’d just nicely play.


The government hides behind its own bureaucracy,
Creating new laws ever more complex and crazy.
But behind the lying eyes and false smiles, I see,
A system out of control, and those who should be,


The firm hand on the reins, holding steady and strong,
They seem to be, all too often, the ones in the wrong.
Mistakes are easily made. We are only human.
But the latest mistake killed a city. Only one,


Mistake was made there:
Leaving decisions to those who don’t care.
The levees were weak, everyone knew,
The city had pleaded, but what could they do?


They needed more work than the city could bear.
They passed it to the feds, who just didn’t care.
Layers and levels of wasted red tape,
Laid the foundation for one cities’ rape.


I have no solution, I must confess.
Of what to do, how to redress,
This horrible wrong I so clearly see.
Yet my conscience speaks to me.


It says that there must be some way,
To fix this and make a brighter day.
So I wrote a poem, you see.
Do you have some ideas for me?