Post-Katrina

The ruined city didn't just happen
by accident. Despite a hurricane
that brought monster wind, tide, and heavy rain
to the Gulf, storm didn't do New Orleans
in. Built on a long, wide, shallow basin
below sea level, the spot was floodplain
between river and lake, precarious chain
of weakened links that might likely break. When
one levee failed, and that water rushed,
we saw the obvious soggy madness
that had been long imagined. City pushed
from foundation. City filled with the mess
of a deep toxic stew. Federal Aid?
While New Orleans drowned, the president prayed.