July standby!
And what a warning it was!
Barreling down early in the morning
Beryl was the buzz.
The buzz word, Beryl,
Was upon every tongue;
First morning of the month of July
She came bearing down.
Never before
Has there been such,
A category 4 hurricane in July
Was just too much.
Barbadians trembled;
New territory was this,
There was no way this southerly
That Beryl could miss.
Her sights were set on Bim
For whatever reason,
Hurricane Beryl chose our Barbados
To announce the season.
First hurricane, yes,
The very first in July,
Beryl has brought new meaning
To July Standby.
June is “too soon!”
July is “standby!”
August "come it must!”
But hurricane Beryl was in July.
None expects a hurricane
In the month of July
Never mind we have the saying,
July Standby!
And it was category 4
Before it made landfall
And was certain to hammer Barbados
Unless it could be stalled.
Out of the question!
Stalling was not to be,
This would be different from before
When we appeared lucky.
As for me,
I anticipated the worst,
Never had such happened before
And Beryl wanted this first.
Category 4 before landfall,
First hurricane in July,
Southeast rather than northeast,
Beryl changed standby!
But we give God thanks;
It could have been worse
Considering what Beryl had promised
On this July 1st.
Now it is standby
For the other territories,
We pray as in the case of Barbados
They too experience ease.
Stewart Russell © July 1, 2024
