July Standby!

It is half way through

And we are into July

There is no need to say

We should be on standby.

“Standby for what?”

Only a tourist should ask.

Well ever since beginning June

We should be on task.

“But on task for what?”

The likely next question:

Preparation for hurricanes

This is the reason.

Hence, July standby!

This is the why:

The prevalence of storms

We dare not deny.

“But we don’t get hit!”

That is foolish talk,

It is a stupid attitude

When these hurricanes stalk.

Harvey, Irma and Maria

Only last year these three

Created havoc in the Caribbean

And caused untold misery.

They were so awful

Their names were retired

And the damage they did

It was as though they conspired.

Yearly we are threatened

By many a storm

But because they miss us

On this we heap scorn.

Some people quarrel

About the preparations they make

And then no storm strikes

And this they hate.

  

They fret and they quarrel

What a waste of time!

“No hurricane can hit us,”

This is what they opine.

Oh we’ve had some brushes

But nothing to compare

To what the “mighty three” did

To countries quite near.

Hurricane Janet we recall

Struck sixty-three years ago

And when another will hit

Only God would know.

It can happen to us

For it has occurred before

So let us not fail to prepare

One might be at our door.

To fail to prepare

Is to prepare to fail

So be prepared! Be on standby!

Don’t ignore this detail!

Stewart Russell © July 2018