rude awakening

Awakening before dawn to the sound of dripping

Water seeping down the window and patio door

Finding water bubbling in under the door

With nothing but towels to sop up the floor

Towels that I carry dripping to the shower

To wring them out by hand and return for more 

Performing a different sort of bucket brigade

Trying to keep up with the unrelenting flow

Eventually the rain abates and the crisis passes

Leaving me exhausted and arm weary with a stiff back

Too much twisting and bending over to start the day 

But thankfully we still have power and internet

Next I head to the kitchen to cook dinner

Hoping the lights stay on until I finish 

All the while hearing the gale winds rattle the door

As if someone is knocking asking to get in

We have a front row seat by the ocean 

Where the drama continues hour after hour

But I have lost interest in the storm scene

Preferring to close the blinds and rest

hurricane watch

The foam blown off the waves skitters past

Flying along the beach scary fast

As the approaching storm continues to intensify

Threatening us here on our precarious perch

We sit on a dune facing the sea

Awaiting the predicted storm surge erosion

In harm's way where no building should ever be put

Where the full moon tide approaches our doorstep

The force of the wind pushes the door shut

When I try to open it to step outside

Persuading me to stay inside and wait it out

Listening in the dark to the howling rush of air

 

And always the ceaseless crashing surf resounds

Our lives as captives taken hostage by the elements

Knowing the worst of it is yet to come

Not until late tomorrow and the next day

The raging wind in advance of downpours tomorrow

Only the prelude to the full impact of the storm

As we hunker down here hoping we don’t lose power

Anxious to emerge from our confinement

River to the Sea November 8, 2022

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election day

I cringed when he raised his fist victorious

Having declared the election is rigged

A deception that perpetuates the deep state

This total liar hiding behind something true 

Such is the insidious twist of fascism

Turning leftist language into its opposite

Like the women's slogan my body my choice

Thrown back at us by the unmasked

Wearing red as their reactionary badge

Controverting the color of communism 

Replacing liberation with oppression

Cloaked in false freedom phrases 

No matter how the vote turns out today 

The economy will remain in control of us

The dictatorship of capital will continue 

Nothing fundamental will change

Not here where everything has a price

And everyone of necessity participates

Swept up in replicating our daily lives

With no real alternative on the ballot