Revelers in Elysium
Last Mardi Gras before Katrina
Pope in a wheel chair
blessed me in Jackson Square
Cops hung around grinning and chatting
While a couple posed painted blue as Krishna
In an ancient Vedic artwork
But theirs was a duality of man and woman
On the field untouched by the scars of war
But filled with the revelry of love
With the French Quarter
their enchanted kingdom
Where the beer flowed free
As soma in the land of the lotus eaters
And a man juggled flaming wands
Like a fire thrower at the festival of Shiva
On the banks of the Ganges
But Old Man River his sacred river
Where the timeless void of heaven
Graced his fiery rites of carnival
When I crossed the Lavender line
raindrops of liquid sunshine cascaded
Elegant ladies huddled under balcony
Sat on porch steps, holding parasols
Arrayed in flaming red ruffle dresses
Smiled up at me in downpour
Batting eyelashes seductively
Down Esplanade rain became a light drizzle
Sat on the balcony of garden district restaurant
Quietly observed the sky and dark clouds
Waiter patted me on the shoulder several times
In a city that care forgot
when tempest came calling
After the flood
Shop of gently used books
Tucked away in the Quarter
In transmigration to Houston
Owner’s epitaph for the Big Easy
“Will be like Charleston with a touch of risqué.”
Books boxed
Leaving lonely shelf
With shadows of Homer
Etched in twilight
hello dearest John it is very sad New Orleans is doing it’s best to recover you were fortunate to have enjoyed your time there before the storms beautiful write and your insight are not lost on me 💕
Thank you so much my friend and reading and really feeling my poem. New Orleans has made an amazing comeback. I haven’t been back to Mardi Gras since Katrina. But I have visited the city several times since. I miss the city. I love that city I once called home.
John
New Orleans is where jazz and funk music got there start. Where second-line drumming and parades flourish, and where jazz funerals are carried out. I was sad to see what Katrina did to the french quarter. I’m sure a place like that will always come back from whatever tragedy affects it.
Thank you so much Tim for understanding and expressing your great empathy for the tragedy that happened to my city when Katrina came. I lived in New Orleans as a child and remember those cultural events you spoke of. New Orleans has indeed come back. Fortunately the French Quarter didn’t flood as bad as the rest of the city. It was spared the worst. I miss that city. I live seventy miles from New Orleans now. It was a diverse and culturally rich place for me to grow up.
John