Save Who You Can

Today is the twelfth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina and the devastation left in New Orleans as a result of the failure of our levee system. I can’t think of a better way to honor those that died than to give to those in Texas who are going through a similar experience with Hurricane Harvey. First Draft was a tireless cheerleader for New Orleans recovery in the months after Katrina. Peter Athas, one of the FD bloggers, was doing his own thing on his personal blog during that time. I can vouch for these people. Your donation will get to the … Continue reading Save Who You Can

Seven Days of Rememberance: Day 7

Photo via NASA Earth Observatory In remembrance of lives lost and lives forever changed due to the Federal levee breach in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina in 2005. I’ll be posting poems and short essays I’ve written over the past 10 years through August 29. Never Forget. ***** August 2005 Bloated river, threatening levee. A fifth of gin for a genie appearance. The bottle answered, floating, rolling out like a funeral. That’s the best you can hope for. The sky broke down, finally. Wailed hard and sweltering. 2015 Continue reading Seven Days of Rememberance: Day 7

Seven Days of Rememberance: Day 6

In rememberance of lives lost and lives forever changed due to the Federal levee breach in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina in 2005. I’ll be posting poems and short essays I’ve written over the past 10 years through August 29. Never Forget. ***** Washed Away 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, … Continue reading Seven Days of Rememberance: Day 6

Seven Days of Rememberance: Day 5

In rememberance of lives lost and lives forever changed due to the Federal levee breach in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina in 2005. I’ll be posting poems and short essays I’ve written over the past 10 years through August 29. Never forget. ***** Survivors August It’s August in New Orleans and autumn seems as far away as Australia. Forget the dogs, these are the cat days of summer at my house. The yard cats lie around making barely a bump in the languid landscape. They watch as I perform my gardening snips and sweeps with eyes both exhausted and persnickity … Continue reading Seven Days of Rememberance: Day 5

Seven Days of Rememberance: Day 4

Photo by Geovanni Velasquez for NOLAFemmes In rememberance of lives lost and lives forever changed due to the Federal levee breach in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina in 2005. I’ll be posting poems and short essays I’ve written over the past 10 years through August 29. Never forget. Sorrows and Secrets The sky hangs low bloated with water waiting to fall. It hovers like ambiguity. The river parts it’s waves as crow’s wings part the air, accepting sorrows and secrets nestled sweetly in its belly, lifted from the shoulders of the disheartened who spill uncertainty into her accepting oblivion. Gulls glide … Continue reading Seven Days of Rememberance: Day 4

Seven Days of Rememberance: Day 3

Photo by Infrogmation Broken City 2006 I’ve always liked  the fog. The ambiance of mystery…….muted sounds, glimpses of shapes that morph into creatures of the imagination, the feeling of still isolation. But today was the fourth day of driving through a fog that only  became denser as I approached the upward slant to the bridge over the Mississippi. Crossing the bridge was surreal, as though driving into the gaping mouth of something not-of-this-earth. I could see absolutely nothing except the tail lights of a few cars directly in front of me, the sides of the bridge going up into a … Continue reading Seven Days of Rememberance: Day 3

Seven Days of Rememberance: Day 2

 Photo by Infrogmation In rememberance of lives lost and lives forever changed due to the Federal levee breach in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina in 2005. I’ll be posting poems and short essays I’ve written over the past 10 years through August 29. Never forget. Birdless We watched for the return of the birds. The air around the house was silent and devoid of flutterings, a vacuum of tweets and whistles. What stragglingh flowers were left went hummingbirdless while twigs and string were just twigs and string with no hope of sheltering featherless offspring. It was strangely quiet, as though … Continue reading Seven Days of Rememberance: Day 2

Seven Days of Rememberance: Day 1

Photo by Infrogmation In rememberance of lives lost and lives forever changed due to the Federal levee breach in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina in 2005. I’ll be posting poems and short essays I’ve written over the past 10 years through August 29. Never forget. ***** Disparity In that house red beans & rice cooked every Monday for four generations until the water washed it away. It floated down Forgotten Street, clapboards splintering like frail old bones in the jaws of the beast. The land where it stood’s going on five years empty now, sacred ground bleached with the salt … Continue reading Seven Days of Rememberance: Day 1