Blues Sonnet for the Bahamas, 1929



The hurricane of 1929 -
That massive killer storm of ’29 -
Came when boats sailed, thinking the weather fine.

The storm came violent as a warrior -
Crept up in silence, struck like a warrior
The Ethel, Myrtle and Pretoria.

The three were bound for Andros, two escaped -
The Ethel and the Myrtle, they escaped -
But 27 drowned when the sea’s mouth gaped.

The storm sat over Nassau for three days -
It killed a hundred, sitting for three days -
Three quarters of all houses just erased.

Bahamians now don’t know what happened then…
They just sing ‘Run Come See Jerusalem’.

Robin Helweg-Larsen

If you have any thoughts on this poem,  Robin Helweg-Larsen would be pleased to hear them.