Katrina: A Tragedy in Five Acts
Act 1: The Wave
Hokusai’s woodblock
A wave, perfectly formed and white-crested,
droplets of spray: elegant, lovely
humans, tiny in their fragile boat
only visible at a second look
nestled in the shadow of what now is revealed to be a giant
mountain of water
snow tipped Mt. Fuji in the distance
at first look, just another wave
the wave has come to Bay St. Louis
people cling to rooftops, riding the surf
explosions of blackness drawing the houses
down below the wave
broken trees disconnected, ramming
Act 2: Baptism
houses straddle railroad tracks
the new order emerges
an Italian mask brought home as souvenir, is submerged, baptized
in the waters of the new Venice
its golden patina transmuted to green
spheres of intersecting light and shadow are the volunteers
streaming into and lightening the burden of the water
oxygen, buddy breaths restore our failing strength
light of hope still visible in the windows although electricity is gone
Act 3: Debris Mountain
Climbing 20 foot piles of flotsam I search for my mother
Will I find her body or her sweet-breathing self?
I search beyond the woodpile for signs of life…footprints,
some fresh, some dried in mud
Dog and human
Lovebugs drift lazily,mating in our eyes and hair. We swallow them as part of breathing.
The pile of wood and trash I climb I singbecomes a twisted cloverleaf of highway where
relief trucks are the same size as lovebugs
The scale of this event is disorienting
Searching my mother’s house I find no one
Has she escaped? Can she hear me? Can she hear at all?
Slipping, falling I retrace steps, climbing over trees
remembering places unsearched, I return again
the smell of the mud is rotten, acrid
death is here.
Hiking back to the head of the road
Climbing felled trees, slipping in the fine mud coating
I fall and rise bruising
Men in white boots report the death of an old couple down the road
My throat tightens as I find a tiny voice to ask if there has been any sign
Of their Boston terrier
A mud-stained face brightens with the news that he was rescued along with a woman and man.
I sing Halleluja
Act 4: Land Under the Sea
Inspired by “Little Pictures of Japan”
a favorite book of childhood and my father’s before me
There is a land under the sea where people live and work
In the first panel, the city resembles Bay St. Louis
In the second, the houses are transformed into gravestones.
Horses as well as people, young and old, float in this world.
The railroad tracks are ghostly, white instead of black as in the other panels
The ink is soft gray and lighter overall to reflect this child’s story.
Act 5: Dark Fear of the Future
Condos and palm trees replace the cottages and live oaks of my home
Though the shape of the houses has been repeated, they are stacked high and wobbly
The railroad continues to carry us into the future.
What lies below are the bones of our past. The circular symbols for searched houses
and the number of bodies found within is a recurring theme. Many of the original
houses are now buried, becoming the foundation of what is to come.
The ten panels of “Katrina: A Tragedy in 5 Acts” were created at Mississippi Art
Colony in Utica over a period of four days in September, 2005. Using only India ink
(my studio and usual art supplies were washed away) and five pieces of donated 300 lb. watercolor paper,
I began by tearing each full sheet into two. This replicated the feeling of being torn by the experience of
Katrina. I worked the pieces side by side to reconnect them. I worked wet, sprayed ink onto the paper, shook
it, beat it, blew onto it. The ink has a greenish tinge which strangely resembles the color of the mud.
The long slender panels resembled Japanese landscapes and Hokusai came to mind.
This was the last artwork I was to produce for a year.
A limited edition of 100 giclee prints was commissioned in spring, 2007.
These are smaller than the original 22x30 full sheets and include the complete set of 10 panels.
