Battered Gulf

New Orleans. Ninth Ward. How many years now since Katrina? Rows of homes still boarded up. Men walking with a clothes washer in a shopping cart. Two men in a kitchen with no way to make hot food. Go to Gene's, one of them says looking back to his buddy as if to make sure my leaving will be ok. The other guy nods and gives the address. A forsaken resilience here. These men stand on the edges of a swamp against inevitable and ongoing natural destruction and human neglect. What coastal town will be the last standing? Mobile? Biloxi? Houston? Signs for real estate speculation in the Bayou fall away amidst the overgrowth of all that will be left to live here in Atchafalaya. There are no plans for evacuation. (November 4, 2017)