A Tribute To New Orleans

I was going through my stuff today and I came across this poem I wrote a few years back. I had previously decided never to put any of my poems on here, but given recent events felt a little tribute to the South couldn't hurt. (To get the feel of the poem you've got to think of pronouncing New Orleans, "New Or-Leens").


New Orleans

I did it for the music, took
a bus to New Orleans:
good glory, what my eyes have seen,
a Cajun backseat funk swamp scene
with bandit boys in Cadillacs,
with blondes in heels flat on their backs
and ready, when the lust attacks—
good glory! no sweet stories
here, just fear of being down and out
and all alone in New Orleans,
getting by by any means
and standing crooked in the street,
scraping hope off of your feet…
looking left when you meant right,
but this way you survive each night.