WHAT WILL BE LEFT
What will be left
of this drowned town
when the rain stops
and the river lies low?
Before the storms,
we wanted more,
but now, we would settle
for what we had.
It was enough
that yesterday,
we were wrong to think
there was nothing
left to lose.
What will be left
of this drowned town
when the land that slid
is pushed away?
Within the mounds
of clay and broken trees
is what they call debris,
but that is you and me.
Let there be enough
that tomorrow,
we may be wrong to think
there is nothing
left to lose.
What will be left
of this drowned town
when those we loved
are found?
The silence may worry,
but when it breaks,
the word may come.
Please, let there be enough
that today,
we are wrong to think
there is nothing
left to lose.
—from Poets Respond
July 31, 2022
__________
Deron Eckert: “‘What Will Be Left’ is in response to today’s historic flooding in eastern Kentucky, an area that has already lost so much, but as the storms have shown, still has much left to lose. There is no way to know this early how many people, homes, and businesses have been lost.” (web)
