 This is English 30-10 Poetry and Politics. We'll be reading from Charisma Price's Things That Fold, a poem about disaster, systemic inequality, efforts and failures, and both personal and communal loss. We love the way her list of things that fold moves quietly among literal and figurative meanings. This poem that thinks about Hurricane Katrina also helps us think about the politics and grief about our current moment. Things That Fold by Charisma Price, after Jamal May My father's voice after the cancer has spread, a flip phone, a flag. George bushes hands as he pauses his vacation briefly for thoughts and prayers. My body next to the potted plant after my father throws the wooden chair. A cheaply made chair, a small stack of clothes, a birthday card. Mel Bertha Hendricks under the American flag, five days after Hurricane Katrina. Her face from the crease, made of her obituary photo as we use the newspaper to eat crawfish. The wrinkles in her forehead, floodwater passing through a broken levy. My uncle's hands, re-taping the attic windows after the floodwater rises. My cousin sleeping in the attic because no neighbor has a rescue boat. A lot of people in distress, they prostrate and call it prayer. A blanket on my cousin's shoulders days later when rescued. A National Guard smile as he carries the neighbor's dog from the flooded living room. The dog's body around his neck and upside down flag.