new orleans journals / today should be Jazz Fest saturday

breaking open

blue and sunny and cool

passing through its gates

kids in a carnival of wonder

maybe fortunate enough to have money in pocket

for fresh cold juices

seafood beignets

or a sausage po boy

or if you are the blessed-est

cruising past barricades into tents

settling in trailers, snapping photos

tuning strings, warming fingers

breathing deep and going out

to make your joyful noise

there is deliverance

in the rooms the tents make

where there are many, a lucky few

who play to inspire

to show others to reach

to show kids how it’s done.