This poem was written 4 days after Katrina 2005 struck when the media misrepresented suffering people. I simply wanted people to know the New Orleans I knew.
A Song for N’Awlins (2005 rendition)
Jacquelyn Hughes Mooney©05
I want to sing a song for New Orleans…Of the neutral zones of Treme’ and Gert Town…
Sing a song for Rampart Street and Congo Square where everyday is a history lesson.
Sing a song for my ancestors Alexander, Sarah, Ellis Hughes.I wished I had told her that she was the only one…
That filled my heart with its lassiere faire and living in extremes …
That sometimes is too hard to bear, the in your face, with so much life and verve and noise.
And the music, the music, that bubbled up in the cracks of the promenade
Where the cadence in bottle caps on sneakers of youn’uns crying“Throw me a coin, mister”And the “Don’t worry bebe”And having champagne and grits at midnight.
Sing a song for Dunbar’s and Dooky Chase, Hubig pies and Blue Bonnet ice Cream…On those hot humid days that make you scream… Me scream...We all scream for ice cream.
“Where love is like a card game, you only have to deal it once”
There were no refugees here, only hardworking, tax paying citizens who held up a redolent city sometimes with sheer grit and determination.
Sing a song also for St Bernard and Jefferson Parish in water flowing deep.. In the eyes of a man who could only weep at the death of a motherwho waited for her son to come and get her?
Give a field holler for Port Gibson, Biloxi, Gulfport, Oxford, Jackson
And the Mississippi Delta for the blues that came up out of the fields .For all the ones that say…“Where yer at? And " for true?”
Shout out for the Panorama Jazz Band and Hector…For Mrs. Baptist and Mrs. Sanders spending a quiet afternoon catching up on the latest local yoreAnd Tony’s to die for barbecue and his “Fo’ sho! Greeting you.
And my dear hearts Ed and Tony who hearts and soul s are incomparable who was there always there.And Snug Harbor (one and two).And C. Ray Nagin and all the rest you are the best.
Sing a song for the ones who were treated like gum stuck on the bottom of a dog’s paw …When the chips were down...For people who wanted to know who your mama was rather then asked you how much you made.Sing a song for Roysalis, Sammy Lee, Aunty Ruth and Donovan, Chief Tootie, CAC and NOCCA.
And all the “Yeah you right” that have not yet been declared.The White Linen Nights…The zydeco…Second Lines not yet boogie woogie to.For boudin …And po’boysAnd poor people who could not afford anything elseAnd could not flee because they had no place to go.
Tell the story of Novelle d’Orleans where for an evening it was a place where care forgot…
And for Xavier, Suno, Dillard and the Amistad…
For praline pies and real crab cakes, crawfish …And African people who knew the difference between Creole and Cajun…
And whose souls intertwined in the soils…The Ashanti, the Gambian, the Senegalese and the Wolof who knew dafuskie…
For the 1.5 million who are standing on the shores…(Even here in Greensboro) Watching their homes and their lives…And their history swallowed up by the lies of thugs…Rampant shootings…And “lawless New Orleans”
Sing the songs of Jelly Roll, Louis Armstrong, Gate Mouth, the Nevelle Brothers, Buddy Bolden, Wynton Marsalis, Harold Baptist, Marva Wright, Danny Barker, Kid Creole, Mardi Gras Indians Andrew Young, and Marc Morial …And Fats Domino who found his thrill in New Orleans
Where jazz is the democracy wrapped up in music.
Sing a song for New Orleans making her dramatic exit as we once knew her…Stage left embraced for a moment in the watery arms of the mighty, mighty Mississippi.
As the Ponchatrain claims its own
.A second line for the beignets, pralines…3rd Ward, 13th Ward, 7th Ward and the Lower Nines.
For the ones who were reunited today and the ones till missing.Herald a joyful noise full with beignets, café au lait,
Jazzfest and Bayou Classic
And Essence Music Festival
Aie!
Les Bon Temps Rouler!(Let the good times roll)
All rights reservedJHM9-6-05©
These are a few of my "itty bitties" from my Changed Waters Katrina series exhibited in the Textile Monument exhibition at the Green Hill Art Center located in Greensboro, NC 2007.
L. to r:
"Blowing in the Wind"
"Be seeching"
Elders Keep Telling the Story".
"The Last Red Cross",
"Sometimes it Hurts Too Much-Fire".
There has been numerous quilts created since Katrina landed on August 28th, 2005
