Phyllis Montana-Leblanc wrote the poem “The Window and the Lady in Black” while in a FEMA trailer after Hurricane Katrina. Buy her book of poems, “Not Just the Levees Broke: My Story During and After Hurricane Katrina” here.
Hearing her voice, I could not help but want to hear,
So I kept running to the window if for nothing else, out of pure fear.
Flashlight shining on her, I could not see,
So I called out: where are you? Where are you? She said nothing.
All night I wondered how far the water had risen on her. I could not sleep.
How could I leave my family, wade in those dark waters, with my sanity to keep?
Dozing off time to time, fanning Ron in the heat, and afraid to close my eyes,
What if she can be saved? What if I waited too long and she actually dies?
Faint sounds of “Help. Help me.” She never answered me back and I lost hope,
I wonder to this day if she got out. I wonder if she survived when nobody threw the rope.
Why didn’t I go out and try to help her? Who left her there and why was I the only voice?
I was falling apart, and my mind was not in the path of any reasonable choice.
So, I left her moaning. I left her looking for someone to raise his or her hand,
I want her to know what I had left was not enough to make a stand.
I’m sorry I didn’t look for her to pull her out of where she stood,
Had I the strength the go forward, I would.
To the lady in darkness who I could hear but could not see,
Please forgive me for not coming. I was not who I am, I was not me.“