A friend of mine, Kathy Egan, wrote a really striking poem about the tragedy of Hurricane Katrina and all the excess baggage that came about because of it. It is beautiful to me because of the purity and humility in which it was written. Thanks for letting me share it, Kathy!

"Guilty As Charged"

We're a nation of finger pointers
Looking for someone to blame
Seeking to find exemption
From the horror and its shame

We all have our excuses
For being unaccountable
As we plunge to hell in our hand baskets
Because problems seem insurmountable

From the President, to the Governor, to the Mayor,
To the press
From the green lawns of the White House
To the backstreets that oppress

From the rich man to the pauper,
To the middle, high and low
From the scholar to the gangster
We have our ducks in a row.

From the wrath of Mother Nature
To a bureaucratic chain
To a God who turns a blind eye
To all suffering and pain.

From the black man to the white man
And all shades in between
None shall be exempted
From these horrors we have seen.

As I point my finger
I'll point it to the West
I'll point it to the North and South
And then I'll let it rest

On one residing in the East
She thought that she could be
Free of a Nation's indictment
My finger points at me.

~ Kathleen Egan ~