“This country has not been hit by a major hurricane since 2005.”
– William Long, FEMA administrator in 2017
Houston, we have a problem, says the honey-haired boy
settled in a 36×48-inch box, too large for the needs-
assembly oak-plank end-table shipped from Hayneedle.
Scribbled by crayons, the cardboard glistens with
constellations reflected from the colander red-ribbon-tied
under his chin and askew. Houston? But not even static—
mounting like surf near South Padre—vibrates the airwaves.
Carrotwood trees enclave the patio beyond the narrow
rectangles of a sliding door not blocked by membrane
moisture barrier. The blue-stained horizon undulates: first
from heat, then from rain-hued clouds. Black mangroves
cling as resolutely as Hokusai’s rowers on oshiokuri.
Houston, we have… a honey-haired boy starting the
countdown without a destination. Houston, we have…
a capsule landed in the Gulf, but inside. Houston, we have…
a cartouche with “lone star” in logograms, settled mid-air
where the sun should be. And no plan for returning to life
beyond the swell.
Sarah E N Kohrs is a writer with 82 poems in journals worldwide, including Arboreal Literary Magazine, Bluebird Word, Chariot Press, The Elevation, Kitchen Quarterly, Louisiana Literature, Philly Poetry Chapbook Review and Rattle’s Poets Respond. She received the Peter K. Hixson poetry award and the Kingdoms in the Wild award for her chapbook, Chameleon Sky. Sarah has a bachelor’s degree from The College of Wooster and a Virginia teaching license. She homeschools, creates pottery for local Empty Bowl suppers and volunteers for Shenandoah County Branch NAACP and the arts non-profit, VECCA. She lives in Virginia, on land she humbly recognizes belonged to the Manahoac. https://senkohrs.com.
ELEVENTH HOUR LITERARY 