Big Easy

Magnolia-honey air, heavy with heat
Kudzu vines twining, knitting the city
Spanish moss masks the old hoyden,
and she manage to think herself pretty

Shutters, and fans lazily turning
keep the suffocating heat of afternoon at bay
Lanais and balconies, sanctuary given
Folks resting until it is cool enough to play

Languid lazy persistence of mosquitoes
Hands too enervated to swat them away
Down Bourbon a honky tonk is whispering
Birds and butterflies hide from the heat of day

Bawdy houses and mansions - quaint 
Charm oozes from the Big Easy's pores
Secrets and antiquities languish behind
ancient shops with their secret doors

Now - a muddy ruin, wiped from the earth
No more Mardi Gras or ladies teas - or riots
Just a flow muddy rubble and water rising
Big Easy is dying as its chaos quiets

Can she rise again as the south did long ago?
Can she pick up her skirts refuse to fade?
A southern lady is a strong woman - defiant
Under her petticoats, Big Easy, quality-made!

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Gershon Wolf

Date: 12/1/2018 8:05:00 PM

This is absolutely terrific! So redolent of Southern Style. (My mother's side of our family was from Texas). It's a FAVE for me. Bravo! Best wishes, Gershon

Sherry Asbury
Date: 12/1/2018 8:34:00 PM

Thank you for your kindest comments.I have never been to Texas except for John Wayne movies, but would like to go.

Chris Green

Date: 11/28/2018 10:45:00 AM

This was great Sherry. It definitely created visions in my mind of the old south and how beautiful it is.

Caren Krutsinger

Date: 11/28/2018 10:21:00 AM

Where do these marvelous words come from? Do you have a magic word book? A word tree? A word faerie? A word garden? No one knows these kinds of words off the top of their head. I am calling you out. Please give me an idea, so I can get one too! Your rhyming is terrific, my friend, but your words. WHOA! Ending classic, Sherry.

Sherry Asbury
Date: 11/28/2018 10:25:00 AM

God made me do it!! Words came with my set-up disks when I was born. No secret or trick - you have the same DNA girl!