Down Where The Levees Broke

PRAYER FOR NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA
November 2005

Lord of the broken places
Hear my prayer
I have seen where the earth failed and the floods poured in
Where people failed each other
And chaos and horror poured in
Places of polluted water and polluted minds
I have seen the overturned cars and the overturned lives
The vacant houses and the vacant eyes
I have stood on sidewalks cracked with mud
And sat and listened to stories of cracked and muddied futures
I have seen doors swollen by flood waters which receded
And eyes swollen by tears which do not
I have seen homes crossed and scarred with x’s of paint
And arms crossed and scarred with cuts of pain
Marking those who lived by punching their way to freedom
And those who died suffocated by water or by heat
I have seen places abandoned and people abandoned
Foundations washed away, collapsed and set adrift
Possessions missing and family lost
Belongings caught in someone else’s tree
People caught in someone else’s town where they don’t belong
All we can do is fix the holes where the floods poured in
Lord you are needed
Down where the levees broke