GloPoWriMo Day 24 (departure from prompt)
Torrential rains the past weekend
Went on and on and on,
And those in Durban Easter spend
Were better early gone.
On Monday a crescendo reached:
The rain came teeming down
Without a pause, plus, barriers breached,
Floodwaters running brown.
And whether inconvenience,
Or weather damage vast —
For some a tragedy to sense
To make one stand aghast —
From leaks in roof to loss of life
Or loss of property,
Most people suffered from this strife
To small or great degree.
The leaky roof to be our lot,
And debris scattered free,
Less fortunate indeed was what
Our housemaid chanced to see.
Her home, where she had gone to stay
For Easter long weekend,
She fled as it was washed away,
With goods, life-savings-spend.
So, while with life she has escaped
And no-one else was harmed,
That home and goods have all been raped;
At least, in time, alarmed.
Three houses with three families
She says were swept away
Not sure the loss of life from these,
But seven’s what they say
And whereas we have to bemoan
A bill for fixing leak,
Missed day at school and work alone,
From all this rainfall, freak;
(Plus panel beating got postponed —
Their workshop was awash —
No answer came when telephoned,
A washout true, by gosh.)
But counting for as nothing, these,
Compared with loss of all;
One trusts that the authorities
Will answer to the call.
What really sad and treacherous circumstances. i’m so sorry to hear of the loss of lives! Your poem told the story well.
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A measured response to a local disaster: I’m sorry for those who’ve lost all, it goes to show you must never take things for granted, especially where acts of God are concerned.
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An excellent poem, despite the inspiration
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It’s heartbreaking how life can change from one second to another. Soft Pawkisses for the occassion🐾😽💞
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Thank you. Yes, the extreme consequences of the disaster could have befallen any one of us.
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Dis baie hartseer, maar dis wat die natuur doen…ons het geen beheer daaroor nie. Jy het dit baie goed beskryf. Ek sien gisteraand op die nuus, dat niemand nog hulp verleen het in sekere arias nie…geen nooddienste nie, niks!
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Ja; so ver as ek verstaan van ons meid (kommunikasie is beperk) nognie niemand vorentoe gekom het nie. Ons probeer uitvind vir wie sy moet praat. Gelukkig het sy die tweede woonstel hier by ons.
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Oeps…moenie daardie woord in Afrikaans gebruik nie..huishulp is die regte woord.
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Ek sien jy al die ‘huishulp’ woord vir my gegee het. Dankie. Ek verstaan nie waarom ‘meid’ as rasies beskou word, en al die PC idiote maak my siek.
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Dis lankal so in Afrikaans…die K-woord en M-woord is in dieselfde kategorie. Ongelukkig is dit as skelwoorde gebruik en ek respekteer dit dat ons dit nie meer moet doen nie. Dis eintlik interessant dat “maid” nie dieselfde behandeling gekry het as “meid” nie. In Nederlands beteken dit “meisie”. Wys net hoe dinge verskillende interpretasies in verskillende tale het.
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Skuus ek probeer nie “condescending” klink nie. Ek weet jy is Engels en weet dalk nie dat dit ‘n skelwoord is en rassisties geïnterpreteer word.
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Ek is siek en sat omdat alles deesdae as rassisties gesien word. Ek het hulle altyd as
‘maid’ in Engels beskryf, en dis nog so, en natuurlik is die vertaling ‘meid’. Dis ‘n beroepsbeskrywing, en het niks met wit of swart of geel te doen nie. Dankie dat jy my vertel het. Wat moet mens hulle nou noem?
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Ek is ook moeg daarvoor, maar ongelukkig het die woord ‘n slegte betekenis gekry. Dis nou huishulp of huiswerker.
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Dis die oorsensetiewe mense wat aanhou om wonde te krap wat die woord daardie slegte betekenis gegee het, soos met ander waar daar geen intensie van belediging is nie. Dit maak my regtig kwaad!
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Dit is iets ysliks. My skoonseun sê altyd vir sy seuntjies “my little monkeys”. Hy het nou opgehou, want hy is bang die kinders sê dit vir ander kinders. Nou sê hy “my little munchkins” .😂😂Totaal belaglik, maar ek het uiterste begrip vir waar hierdie sensitiwiteit vandaan kom.
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Totaal mal. Ek beskryf nog die kleinkinders as ‘little monkeys’ met baie liefde. Ook, in die verlede het die K en M woorde beskrywend gebruik geword het met geen intensie om te beledig. Ek gee nie om as ek ‘rooinek’ genoem word nie, en so ver as ek weet is die Kaffirs van Sri Lanka nog trots omdat hulle so genoem word.
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Dis maar ‘n sensitiewe saak en mens kan lank daaroor debatteer. Ek hoop julle kom weer vinnig reg daar en dat die hulp spoedig by die mense uitkom. Sterkte!
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Ons dak is al herstel. Nie so maklik nie met die . . . huishulp . . . se besittings! Dankie.
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Ek is bly om te hoor.😄😄
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It’s hectic. I saw on CNN this morning that Mozambique is about to cop another extreme cyclone.
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That is bad news indeed; for whatever reason these cut-off lows seem to follow a while after the effects of the cyclones further north. And Mozambique and Zimbabwe can’t take another soaking.
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We are living in strange times where strange weather will no longer be a stranger.
I’m so sorry to hear about the families who have lost their homes.
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Even worse is those where family members, or whole families, have died. Over 50 to date.
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I am so sorry to hear about these deaths Les, how frightening must this have been? What a terrible tragedy.
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It certainly is scary when it belts down non-stop, and one knows that there is a limit to how much can fall without serious consequences.
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My heart goes out to you and I pray the weather changes soon.
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Today was mopping-up time, but I fear that with another hurricane coming down from Mozambique the weather isn’t finished with us yet.
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So sorry to hear that. I hope it will not be as severe as you anticipate.
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It is a wait-and-season! 🙂
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We saw footage of this. So unusual and we are so badly prepared for this kind of weather.
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We live on a potentially slippery slope (a glorified sand dune) so were rather nervous at the amount of wet coming down. Climate change denialists should open their eyes and simply look around.
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Angswekkend
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Seker; vir ons meid ‘n tragedie. Net geluk dat daar is geen verlies van lewe.
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Tragic indeed. Hopefully, not to soon be repeated.
One question/comment . . . is “whether” intentional (it could fit if one squints a bit) or is it meant to be “weather”?
Or . . . I can’t tell whether whether is meant as whether or whether whether should be weather.
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The way these cut-off lows are recurring, a repeat may occur all too soon.
The ‘whether’ was intentional and invites the squinting. Perhaps I do go overboard a bit in trying to avoid conventional headings.
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Will your roof be hard to fix?
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Our builder friend who will be doing it says a relatively easy matter.
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Scary!
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One never knows from one day to the next . . .
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