Scream is what I want to do,
“These people died and where were you?”
If the Coast Guard too had taken your lead,
Hundreds more would have been in need.
You claimed that you were unaware
That 5,000 plus had just died there.
But, possible? I think it not
Your pompous selves were never caught
With want of saving your own people,
Why not just leave it to the steeple?
They really could have used the aid,
And not the full armed barricade.
People watched their families die
Because food and water were in short supply.
Then you came, what? Five days late?
And you thought they would appreciate
The fact that you stranded them all there
Because Condi seeing “Spamalot” was a higher care?
And, of course, Cheney had to fish
Obviously, each drowning victim’s last wish.
Sean Penn helped, because you “couldn’t”
Or, maybe it was because you wouldn’t.
Dead bodies, down the streets they floated,
Washed up on land, so pale and bloated.
You claimed you had searched for the dead
That’s what your marks on houses read.
But, half those houses were un-entered
Stagnant waters, liquid grave centered.
And five months later, these houses sit
You think they’re okay? You’re full of s--t.
I walked down streets, so devastated
And the government, I truly hated.
Katrina was in August, it was July
And I could only wonder, why?
Eleven months and nothing’s done
How can you say your people are number one?
You should all be so full of shame,
And when somebody says the name
“Katrina” you should think back on your life,
And I hope it cuts deep like a knife
To think of all those passed away
Because of your bad engineering and delay.
You waste your money on Iraq,
And, for your sake, I wish it back
So the people who did fully trust
In your promises that proved unjust
Can get back houses, if nothing more
Because all those people you lost, you can’t restore
“These people died and where were you?”
If the Coast Guard too had taken your lead,
Hundreds more would have been in need.
You claimed that you were unaware
That 5,000 plus had just died there.
But, possible? I think it not
Your pompous selves were never caught
With want of saving your own people,
Why not just leave it to the steeple?
They really could have used the aid,
And not the full armed barricade.
People watched their families die
Because food and water were in short supply.
Then you came, what? Five days late?
And you thought they would appreciate
The fact that you stranded them all there
Because Condi seeing “Spamalot” was a higher care?
And, of course, Cheney had to fish
Obviously, each drowning victim’s last wish.
Sean Penn helped, because you “couldn’t”
Or, maybe it was because you wouldn’t.
Dead bodies, down the streets they floated,
Washed up on land, so pale and bloated.
You claimed you had searched for the dead
That’s what your marks on houses read.
But, half those houses were un-entered
Stagnant waters, liquid grave centered.
And five months later, these houses sit
You think they’re okay? You’re full of s--t.
I walked down streets, so devastated
And the government, I truly hated.
Katrina was in August, it was July
And I could only wonder, why?
Eleven months and nothing’s done
How can you say your people are number one?
You should all be so full of shame,
And when somebody says the name
“Katrina” you should think back on your life,
And I hope it cuts deep like a knife
To think of all those passed away
Because of your bad engineering and delay.
You waste your money on Iraq,
And, for your sake, I wish it back
So the people who did fully trust
In your promises that proved unjust
Can get back houses, if nothing more
Because all those people you lost, you can’t restore
This piece has been published in Teen Ink’s monthly print magazine.
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