Katrina. Twenty Years Ago.
She lingered in the Gulf, her waters building in height,
Chummy atmospheric conditions strengthened her might.
We pondered how long she’d stay, when on Monday she came ashore,
Realizing too late, this vicious “lady” was something to abhor.
Her screeching banshee cry was all that we could hear,
As her watery talons of death gripped us with fear.
Our ancient oaks were stripped of their green; she left n’er a towering pine,
A tawny-brown canvas of ruin was all that she left behind.
From defiant double-wides to columned mansions along the shore,
She showed no kindness, only destruction, just to even the score.
She left Father Ryan’s palm tree, but not a window or door of his home,
The SS Hurricane Camille was lost in waves and billowing foam.
Beauvoir endured, but barely, as did Old Town in the Bay,
The 30-foot shark at Sharkheads, alas, did not survive the day.
Our historic lighthouse endured, thankfully to shine anew,
But the Golden Fisherman statue, Katrina’s wrath it couldn’t subdue.
The Point, so named, because it jutted into the waters of Back Bay,
Was nothing more than a memory after that fateful day.
The Shearwater Compound, along with its peaceful natural world,
Was washed away, as into oblivion it was hurled.
The scaley-green dinosaur at Biloxi’s amusement park,
Survived Camile, but Katrina left her obliterating mark.
She showed no mercy to the Houses of God,
Gulfport’s FBC was a gaping shell of mud and soddy sod.
The Fisherman’s Church, with stained glass Saints, it was adorned,
Until she left them legless, broken, and forlorned.
The Chimney’s Restaurant, once housed in a mansion grand,
Was reduced to a jagged cliff of rubble and gritty sand.
Yet, through the misery and devastation that Katrina left,
Our livelihoods, our homes, and all possessions—bereft,
We pulled together with hard work, much sweat, and lots of grit,
Our will to survive and rebuild, she could not split!
Now, twenty years later, by Father God’s mercy and grace,
A bright, happy future we now embrace.
To all who suffered and for those who passed away,
Lest we forget them on this anniversary day. 
(A poem by Anthony Wayne Kalberg, August 29, 2025)