new orleans journals / 10.1.20

City of angels

City of demons

Jewel of lotus growing up into sun tendril-rooted in swamp

City of sun

City of dreams

City of dashed hopes

City of sunken treasures

City of starry eyes

City of moon

Place of ripening mind and flesh

Openpoint of floodwater river

lakefront memory

Let me tell you about New Orleans. Let me tell you before she is a memory

words on the wind

a story in elders’ minds

as real as the lips on your face

damp with breath.

Let me tell you about New Orleans before she is gone and so are we.