This piece was written after being asked by the creators of the “Still Vexed” blog to write a poem reflective of the Bermudian experience after a hurricane. It was posted the day after a hurricane had just passed Bermuda.
After the wind stops howling gospel,
we will see undressed earth
littered with relics of squalls
remembrance of the ritual that swallows home
The quiet comes in waves
In a swollen silence
A lull draped in the color of bruise
A battered canvas
Landscape repainted with clumsy artistry
This new quiet is tribute to christened earth
Though we have escaped the wrath of storm’s mouth
the salt smell of its throat still hangs on breeze
We walk the jungle of branch and windswept
It is scribed in our bones to do this
as if it is duty to study the product of nature’s churn
Returning to the once untouched parts
to see how unforgiving storm was
We find a god in us after storm’s exhale
We gather in flocks
We commune
standing over undressed earth
savoring the quiet’s sweet
Also published at https://stillvexed.com/f/peace-is-found-when-the-quiet-comes