The city that care forgot....

In light of recent events, I couldn't help but notice the similarities between the events of Katrina and now the events of Harvey. The pictures are eerily similar. I can't help but notice that 12 years later we still do not have the infrastructure we need to ensure the safety of all of our citizens regardless of their socio-economic status. It's utterly ridiculous. New Orleans was underwater earlier this month. Now, Texas is experiencing some of the same things New Orleanian's experienced during Katrina. We've got to do better. You can just switch out Bush for Trump. Below is a poem I wrote 12 years ago. Sadly, it's still relevant.  

I come from the city that Bush forgot

where flood water flowed through city blocks

born and raised on file from Gumbo pots

you’re looking at a graduate from the school of hard knocks

watched my people sleep on cots in the Astrodome

wonderin’ if they will ever make it back home

my mother was one of those people in the dome

I’ve got more than bone to pick with my government

If tax dollars were better spent

Then maybe the core of engineers would have designed a better blueprint

Maybe then Kathleen Blanco would have signed the document

Maybe so many lives would not have been lost because of negligence

I’ve always questioned our president’s intelligence

This was an act of treason, can we please get an impeachment?

Our elders died on pavements in front of convention centers on CNN

And New Orleans’ hero was Anderson Cooper and Sean Penn

I come from the city that Bush forgot

Poydras and Claiborne was the auction block

They let bodies rot, on the interstate

And relief came too late

For those who died in attics long after Katrina’s arrival date

Friends and family scattered around the continental United States

I come from the city that Bush forgot

Where flood waters flowed through city blocks

Born and raised on file from Gumbo pots

You’re looking at a graduate from the school of hard knocks

That’s why I rock, t-shirts that pose the question

Does Bush care, NO he forgot

Shelter

Photo Credit: Frieze Photography

This is my first "Friday Love" as a married woman. So, I have decided to share the first poem I ever wrote for my husband. The same poem I recited to him before we took our vows. 

No one seems to understand our hashtag

 But me and you

No one seems to get our jokes

But me and you

And that’s exactly where we came up with it-

'Cause we will always be “Demtu”

Demtu people that people just don’t understand

Demtu people that rock out to “Classic Man”

Demtu people who break out in a dance

Demtu people who can just hold hands

Demtu people who didn’t work out with other people

'Cause they just weren’t us

They weren’t meant to be

See, He wasn’t You

And She wasn’t Me

But thank God for the lessons learned

For the bridges burned

And the scars we earned

We’re better for it

Truthfully, I don’t think we would have appreciated

This kind of joy

Without that kind of pain

Today, I take your last name

And roll away the Stone

I choose to make a Harrison home

And embark on this resurrection of our new life

Not just your best friend, but your wife

I will be your “Shelter” in this life