Ghosts of the New Orleans Night
Posted: May 24th, 2008, 10:36 pm
Memories come, fleetingly, tracing their way
Through the vortex of my consciousness
Tired rumblings of the mind
A rose garden tucked away
In the junkyards of the city
Sparrows pecking popcorn
Among the ruins of old tires
I follow the river of streets
To an oasis of green
Old grizzly men splayed out
Across park benches
Goldfish pass quietly through the pool
The fountain splashing
In sparkles of golden light
My tiny body floating across the city
Like a leaf carried by a stream
Flowing with the tide of traffic
Till familiar streets close in on me
Shadows etched on brown grass
Twilight lingering in silhouettes of people
Shades darting across city streets
Car lights glowing in ethereal afterglow of day
Rumbling of engines in Doppler fade out
I amble across sidewalk
My angular figure crawling like shadow puppet
Seeking home through wilderness of humanity
So alone yet free
The house lights glimmer warmly
In the humid night air
Kids shuffling into homes
Mothers calling names
Inside record plays sentimental tunes
Sweet jazz piping from phonograph
A cascade of enticing noise
Splashing across my ears
The scent of shrimp boiling
The tiredness of mother's sigh
Echoing through my loneliness
Like a whisper of truth
Life fades into void
As though we never existed
Not even a footnote to history
Dust motes suspended
For a blink of eternity
Through the vortex of my consciousness
Tired rumblings of the mind
A rose garden tucked away
In the junkyards of the city
Sparrows pecking popcorn
Among the ruins of old tires
I follow the river of streets
To an oasis of green
Old grizzly men splayed out
Across park benches
Goldfish pass quietly through the pool
The fountain splashing
In sparkles of golden light
My tiny body floating across the city
Like a leaf carried by a stream
Flowing with the tide of traffic
Till familiar streets close in on me
Shadows etched on brown grass
Twilight lingering in silhouettes of people
Shades darting across city streets
Car lights glowing in ethereal afterglow of day
Rumbling of engines in Doppler fade out
I amble across sidewalk
My angular figure crawling like shadow puppet
Seeking home through wilderness of humanity
So alone yet free
The house lights glimmer warmly
In the humid night air
Kids shuffling into homes
Mothers calling names
Inside record plays sentimental tunes
Sweet jazz piping from phonograph
A cascade of enticing noise
Splashing across my ears
The scent of shrimp boiling
The tiredness of mother's sigh
Echoing through my loneliness
Like a whisper of truth
Life fades into void
As though we never existed
Not even a footnote to history
Dust motes suspended
For a blink of eternity
