Trail of Tears: (part of the Hurricane Katrina: Trail of Tears Essay)

It started with a promise…
‘take food and water to the
Superdome, and you’ll be alright.’

But what was said, tongue-in-cheek
Caused thousands to be stranded facing
rising waters and dwindling supplies.
Tension and desperation merged and
New Orleans became a chain of islands
where only watercraft and helicopter could reach.
The Trail of Tears brought on by the
flood waters of Pontchartrain had begun.

Air-mattresses became life-rafts.
Overpasses became the high-ground.
Families separated by age, gender, and
medical necessity were dispersed across the U.S.
Tens of thousands arrived in Houston.
What once was a sports complex had now
become a shelter/refugee camp.
The conditions, though better than the flooded
Streets of New Orleans, continued to add to the
Trail of Tears streaming down the concourse
where ‘residents’ reside,
huddled around power outlets
in order to plug in their connections
to the ‘real world’.
Houston P.D. secured the perimeter.
Reliant Security secured the buildings.
Mounted Police patrolled the grounds.
The more residents that arrived were greeted with
invitations to all points away from this region…
calls to adopt a family became sheik…
the neo-pets of the elite.

‘I just want to go home, clean up my house and rebuild.’

is but a faint cry,
enveloped by the sounds of cash cards and housing vouchers.
New Orleans ain’t dead! …

Trail of Tears

Now Boarding! Colorado, California, Utah,
and Georgia! Arizona, New York, and Missouri!

One-way tickets only, Please….

Trail of Tears

AZ