Poetry Friday

Location, location, location! They say it's 'everything.' Well, they may be right when it comes to hurricanes. Here in New England, hurricanes seldom amount to much. By the time they arrive, they're usually all tuckered out and spit out some rain and blustery wind. But if you happen to live in the Carolina's or the gulf, they're a whole different animal. And what happens when they hit even further south?

Problems with Hurricanes

A campesino looked at the air
And told me:
With hurricanes it's not the wind
or the noise or the water.
I'll tell you he said:
it's the mangoes, avocados
Green plantains and bananas
flying into town like projectiles.

How would your family
feel if they had to tell
The generations that you
got killed by a flying
Banana.

Death by drowning has honor
If the wind picked you up
and slammed you
Against a mountain boulder
This would not carry shame
But
to suffer a mango smashing
Your skull
or a plantain hitting your
Temple at 70 miles per hour
is the ultimate disgrace.

The campesino takes off his hat—
As a sign of respect
toward the fury of the wind
And says:
Don't worry about the noise
Don't worry about the water
Don't worry about the wind—
If you are going out
beware of mangoes
And all such beautiful
sweet things.

~~~Victor Hernandez Cruz

Today's Poetry Friday is over at Great Kids' Books
Trek on over, but watch out for the flying fruit