prayer to

prayer to georges, dennis, floyd, michelle, cristobal, erika, henri, isabel, mindy, frances, noel, bret, irene, joaquin, matthew, irma, tropical depression three, dorian, humberto, arthur, isaias, sally, nicole, oscar

our muddas an faddas, who art dissipated ta da heavens, hallowed be all thy names. 

when thy kingdoms come and thy wills be done, when yinna run oceans red and yall floods finally drown out our birthplace, let it be durin a time we ca watch from safety an mourn wit our life in our hands. let our father be done, our siblings rich enough ta not be bothered, our friends smart enough to also be far away.

drownin so intricately tie to our life. gallons a gulped sea water mitosis us to ever thirst. our sweat always salty. yinna bring us cracked lips on humid summer days. dichotomy a life dat caan never be explain to dem who never dere. fingerprints lost ta hot tar. yall winds blow different right before. da only cold we did eva know.

let us smell it from months away. we fell sleep to yalls howls and bangs. yall winds rockabye baby us more den our father of blood. too loud ta tink durin. too much scurry ta tink before. too much pickup ta tink afta. wash rinse repeat. we but dirty clothes in yinna spin cycle. categories. numbas a destruction reflect yinna disruption. we rebuild. always. keep resettin in yall name each summer. over and over. worship da stormy skies. kiss yinna names from our lips. we pray for da privilege ta watch from afar juss disa once. please. hear our prayer.

Amen.

leigh ann is a short story writer and reluctant novice poet from The Bahamas. They are a graduate of The University of The Bahamas and are currently a Creative Writing and Publishing student at Okanagan College. Their writing frequently features Bahamian Dialect and they were longlisted for the 2025 Commonwealth Short Story Prize.

Featured Image: Hurricane, Bahamas by Winslow Homer, 1898