'The Big One' Poem by Max Reif
'The Big One'
The hurricane hit in 1969,
no matter that it came from inside me.
It was the Big One, a raging fury
that uprooted all pilings, divested me
of moorings and infrastructure,
left me reaching up
from a broken roof of desperation
on a dark night without shelter,
left nothing to start again with
but a seed, very deep within.
I wrote a poem years later that began,
“none can imagine
the ocean of suffering
some minds are drowning in,
as none can imagine
the sea of joy
some other minds have found.”
Today I watch the people in New Orleans
bereft, clinging to their rooftops,
huddling in a flooding stadium.
I can’t feel how hot it is there,
or what it's like when the toilets
and water taps don’t work,
there’s no food,
a stinking river is rising,
and you don’t know where your wife is.
TV offers a hint of the devastation,
imagination refuses to flesh out the rest.
The seed of my own new life,
after Shiva* finished off the old,
has flourished. I’m a man
with a profession, a wife and a house—
thirty-five years spent to attain
some balance and try to keep
the flame of inner life alive.
I don’t understand the ways of God.
It could all be gone again tomorrow.
If that happened—and I were fully aware—
I should prostrate on the ground and thank Him.
____
*Shiva—the Hindu god of Destruction, part of the trinity that also includes Brahma (Creation) and Vishnu (Preservation) . Destruction= the beginning of a new cycle of creation.
Max - destruction is often the beginning of a transition period. At the time, though, we hang on to what is killing us because it is a known, and more comfortable than the unknown. Sometimes the best surprises come in the most difficult package to open. But - remember the pendulum swings - for every up there will be a down coming. Live life to the fullest every day, because it may be gone tomorrow. This is a poem of universal awareness, one we can all identify with. Good job - your insight is amazing. Linda
I commend anyone who can write about what's going on in our country at the moment. I for one haven't been able to write about it, I guess I wouldn't be able to do it justice..so kudos for you for doing it, and doing it well..
Very moving poem Max. I am so saddened by what's going on in the world, it just seems it's gone crazy. The worst part is when the enemy your being attacked by is Mother Nature....you can't fight her. You have a great way of expressing your sympathy. Sincerely, Mary
Beautiful write....do not change it! You could not have wrote it better
In a word, Max.....excellent. Don't change a thing. Mine is a bit more cynical. H
This poem has not been translated into any other language yet.
I would like to translate this poem
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4/26/2024 6:04:20 PM # 1.0.0.1119
Max, the best poetic commentary on the hurricaine I have read. As only a poet such as yourself could do, blending personal experience with current event...I enjoyed it very much, thank you....Gainor