Unpublished Poem #10: “I Know”

I wrote this poem back in 2006, less than a year after Hurricane Katrina ripped into New Orleans. By the time I was writing this, it had become clear what the storm had done to one of my favorite cities. New Orleans is only about five hours from Montgomery, so jumping in the car and heading down there wasn’t a big deal. Though I’ve never lived in the Big Easy; I have fond memories of the time I’ve spent there. I’m also a Louis Armstrong fan, and this poem riffs on his “Do You Know What It Means to Miss New Orleans?”

I Know

I stood

on a corner—

here came

the procession:

white shirts

and wild trumpets

and the

golden trombones

leading

a bride and groom

in their

horse-drawn carriage

and some

old black dude jumped

out and

joined the parade

swaying

with that band all

the way

down Royal Street.

I’m up

right now for some

old school

dixieland jazz

quintet

in the Quarter,

at the

Preservation Hall,

or for

the newer stuff,

smoother

like martinis,

maybe

to the Red Room

on stilts

over by St. Charles . . .

I know

what it means

to miss

New Orleans.

Filed under: Literature, Louisiana, Poetry, Unpublished Works, Writing and Editing