published in her book, Drowning in the Floating World
(Press 53, 2020)
That First Night, the Hospital
was the only thing left standing.
Those of us who got to it in time
sat on the third floor, praying. Thank God
for generators, why God, the generators--
that, unharmed, kept the lights on,
the only lights in our city? Outside,
Atlantis formed--my house
somewhere underneath us.
Over the dark, people floated, crying
for help, crying as if there was any way
we could get them out of the water,
as if there was any room here.
Someone shut the curtains. Even so,
we heard them until morning.
