As I read, watch, and listen to the news of the terrible destruction wrought by Hurricane Helene in Florida, Georgia, the Carolinas, and Tennessee, I am once again stunned by how quickly people’s lives can be upturned, their livelihoods ruined, and their loved ones lost due to forces over which they have absolutely no control.

Sitting here in the comfort of my dry, intact home in Illinois, I can do very little to help the millions who are now living in Helene’s aftermath, but one thing I can do is wish them courage, strength, resilience, and hope.

Hurricane Helene victims: this one is for you.

The Thing Is

by Ellen Bass

to love life, to love it even
when you have no stomach for it
and everything you’ve held dear
crumbles like burnt paper in your hands,
your throat filled with the silt of it.
When grief sits with you, its tropical heat
thickening the air, heavy as water
more fit for gills than lungs;
when grief weights you down like your own flesh
only more of it, an obesity of grief,
you think, How can a body withstand this?
Then you hold life like a face
between your palms, a plain face,
no charming smile, no violet eyes,
and you say, yes, I will take you
I will love you, again.

From the collection, Mules of Love (BOA Editions, 2002)