The National Hurricane Center

[Berwick Bay]

The National Hurricane Center

Watching over us, mediating betwixt us
And the wrath of nature,
Priests offer prayers on our behalf.
Massive walls of the temple provide protection
From the angry god they worship,
And from the uninitiated without.
This Oracle of Poseidon,
Weighing the intentions of the god,
Seeking his will in infrared,
In spectrums of light unseen by mortal man.
Tithes offered from the treasury of
South Beach, Gulf Shores, and Hilton Head
Ensure that the Oracle will continue to speak,
Ensure that they will continue to build
And prosper, fearful in the presence of an unknown God.

But now a voice from the wilderness speaks
To the priests in the sanctuary,
“It is not lawful for thee to abandon the people,
Committing adultery with jeweled flesh,
With speculators and money-lendors.”
Now the priests would have his head,
The tithes must be presented at the altar.
But they feared the people.
Wherefore coming at night
They took him,
Betrayed with a kiss
By one whom he loved.
Asked about the breaking of ritual
But not about the truth, which he spoke,
He gave no answer.
And the people, swayed by the priests,
Not knowing what they were doing,
Demanded his head.


Truly this was a good man.
Abandoned
Now in death, his truth may yet speak to us.
For we still believe
In the Oracle and in its priests.
But the Oracle must be kept
For the people,
The money changers having no place there.

[Tampa Bay Hurricane]

Excellent Poem Berwick Bay!!!!!