She was up all night
Heeding cries of women and children
Helpless and hungry on the rooftop
Her volunteers
Were sleepless as well
Packaging relief goods
And sending
The first truck of goods
To the flood-ravaged areas
She saw the extent
Of the storm’s wrath
Even as she mobilized
Trucks and volunteers
To heed the cries for help
Of more storm victims
Wailing and texting for help
On top of flood-submerged
Houses
The morning after
I saw a woman on the water
Waist-deep in murky floodwaters
Helping her volunteers
Get to storm victims
Having their first
Taste of clean water and food
After the storm
There is no one
Like her now
The way she responds
To the poor and the hungry
While the bureaucrats
Are busy
Plotting storm paths
She is the lesson
We all need
When we choose
The leaders we deserve
She is the conscience
We all need
In time of deprivation
And dirty politics
She is all we have now
In the midst of darkness
As we watch her again
Wade through the murky rivers
Of our memory