Every time I smell that scent
it brings back those long summer
days – and the winter ones too -
when we all sat outside together
smoking and talking, laughing at
your stories, you were always the
funny one quick with a joke and
a smile, the glint of devilment in
your soft brown eyes. You beguiled
us all with your charming Cajun
ways, talking about growing up on
the bayou, riding bikes in the cane
fields where you claimed you once
saw a Big Foot and about how the older
boys chased you and hit you with
brooms during Courir de Mardi Gras.
But then The Big One came and washed
us all away to Memphis, Dallas, Asheville
and even all the way to Missouri,
scattered from our slow, sweet murmurs
and confidences, our laughter and
complacence. Washed away, never
to return the same again.
ah, they sound like quite the character…would love to listen…and the sadness at it washing away, makes me think of the storm taking it away…
Indeed the storm did take it away. This was a group who worked in my building pre-Katrina. We spent many lunch hours and breaks together. After the storm, my employer chose not to come back to New Orleans so I never saw many of these people again. I was just thinking about them last night. They were a great bunch.
Such a well written snapshot… it’s a shame how storms and disasters displace people, here in Queensland many are facing disastrous floods again after TC Oswald, gosh these things take their toll on peoples spirits, some vow to leave and never return…this resonates strongly with me today. Great write!
I hope you & yours stay safe, panda.
An excellent, poignant picture of friendship. Wonderful.
Love these lines –> “scattered from our slow, sweet murmurs
and confidences, our laughter and
complacence.”
a beautiful ache, Charlotte
Those types of relationships can be so wonderful, but also so fragile. You’ve captured a wonderful moment, and I’m so sorry everyone is dispersed.
Sad being washed away..a great capture.
Katrina did change your lifestyles dramatically, Charlotte. I like the memories here. I hope your new year is beginning in a wonderful way.
Pamela
Thank you all for your comments. xo
wonderfully illustrated example of how an event(s) in ones lives can alter the what is in ones life. Strong illustration of recall. Greatly enjoyed the write. Thanks
Written with poise and composure and sensitivity. As if it could be written any other way by a true resident of New Orleans .
Everything lingers, memories, vibes. It takes time to heal. I wonder often, how people cope in the aftermath of large scale catastrophe and if they realize the changes; good and bad as years pass or if they just continue on -but differently. Your words, though moist with meloncoly, still sound hopeful for new laughter, new experience, new memories – new sense of home – it is ancestral is it not.
nice…they sound like a great bunch of people…so sad when such a group is washed away in different directions..for whatever reasons..
Big river gonna wash us to the sea…Love New orleans and her people. Love the bayous and the zydeco and the gumbo and the laments when the little city goes under over and over..
Good one ZZ – love the flow – love the progress. Tidy little tale!
I love this kind of narrative poems. So atmospheric, the people making the place what it is (was)
Thanks, all!
Yes, it’s really so sad. I saw a wonderful (sad) exhibit near where I live of all these abandoned drawers from New Orleans. k.