Peggy Hammond:
The event that pushed me to write this poem was Tropical Storm Fred’s devastating flooding in western North Carolina; the Pigeon River rose to record flood levels. Homes and lives were lost, and in the aftermath, locals said they’d never seen anything like it. Although some deny climate change, the evidence of worsening storms and rising temperatures can’t be ignored; in part, that’s what this poem tries to capture. But it also spotlights the larger issue of man’s impact on nature, and to do this, I reference a superfund site in Asheville, NC, caused by pollution from a factory that operated from the late 1950s to mid-1980s. In between stanzas, almost like a lament, I used pieces of the rosary prayer Hail Mary, Full of Grace. Overall, this poem is my way of asking, will we ever wake up?