Mardi Gras bubbles with fanfare.
Glitzy wild and crazy with its effervescence.
Party city like no other.
Wordku: 5-7-5 words
AP: 3rd place 2026
a lively alligator with a banjo down Arkansas way
strummed his stringed instrument every single day
He had drums too, but his wife said “no”
when she was at her mother’s he played them though
This was a musical beast who loved to sing and dance
He wanted to join a Thespian group, they said “no chance!”
You see people are fearful of alligators down in Arkansas
So he went to New Orleans and danced during the Mardi Gras.
She sails where the bayou kisses the tide,
a phantom queen with a mournful glide.
The paddle churns, though no hands steer,
and jazz floats faint on a breeze unclear.
Her lanterns burn with a ghostly hue,
casting gold on waters black and blue.
No passengers board, no voices ring--
just whispers soft as a violin string.
The captain’s hat is dust and bone,
his eyes like coals, his soul long gone.
He tips his brim to the moonlit shore,
forever sailing, seeking more.
Beneath her decks are cards and gin,
dice that roll where life wore thin.
The laughter echoes through the years--
a masquerade of silent cheers.
They say she sank in 'twenty-four,
but rose again with something more.
A curse, a pact, or prayer gone wrong--
now midnight is her siren song.
If you hear her horn on a still, dark night,
don’t follow the sound or seek the light.
For once aboard, you’ll never disembark--
your name etched in the ledger of the dark.
Alesia Leach © 4/2025
We try to do some local things
Whenever we’re away,
Although we’re clearly tourists
On a short and jam-packed stay.
So we signed up for a cooking class
And watched a chef prepare
Gumbo, jambalaya and pralines,
Some Cajun-Creole fare.
It all was most delicious
And Chef Austin was the best.
We left there more than satisfied
And happily impressed.
Not needing any dinner,
We checked out some local jazz,
Where Tom Hook, a piano player,
Entertained us with pizzazz.
It’s wonderful to have a chance
To try out something new
As a little break before you’re back
To what you always do.
Said a handsome New Orleans waiter,
"Sir, can I recommend some freshly caught gator?"
I said, "Are you for real?
Didn’t you hear about that poor woman Lucille?"
"But Sir, what if I can assure you ~ this ain't the gator that ate her?"
His smelled of semi-soft cheese
with a low moldy blue undertone
I had no tolerance for his smell
for compared to gym socks,
ammonia,
or barnyards,
it was pure Eau de Toilet !
After a game of indoor soccer
he'd break wind
while holding up one leg.
He smelled of rotten egg
formaldehyde,
and sour pickles,
from New Orleans....
While they chased after him
with bottles of perfume
He'd do the armpit fart
then run away.
Leaving behind,
a skunky smell of Cannabis.
Dear New Orleans
Since the first time I met you, I knew you were unique and special.
I fell in love with your passion and your people.
Even when I am miles away, deep down
I crave your voice, your rhythm and your sound.
New Orleans you are so beautiful, with your tall buildings
and your French Quarter sights your sound is my delight.
Even now my heart aches, my heart breaks from the violence my heart shakes.
The terrorist attack tried to hold me back, but nothing can keep me away from you.
Forever committed, forever true
Bourbon and Canal, I’m coming home to you.
My beloved late husband and I
once strolled down Bourbon Street,
on a mild winter's afternoon.
The musicians enchanted the
atmosphere,
as sparrows lent their own songs.
We dined on gumbo al fresco
with friends,
Spanish Moss clothed ancient trees.
It wasn't yet Mardi Gras,
but we felt so festive,
with her old-time buildings
and eccentric people,
all those years ago.
This New Year's Day,
New Orleans mourns again,
her heart has the wound of loss,
as some of her innocent revelers
died an untimely and unforseen death.
The city of celebration,
candlelit for remembrance. ~
Riverboat on the Mississippi
Folks dining on scrimp, grits, and cornbread
Drinking booze and gambling like crazy
Going to Bourbon Street just ahead
Down in that Cajun Queen, New Orleans
The big paddle wheel keeps on rolling
Down to the Cajun Queen of the Gulf
Where the real money is unfolding
And a thousand green bucks is small stuff
Down in that Cajun Queen, New Orleans
The big paddle wheel keeps on churning
Black coal keeps that steam boiler humming
Noxious fumes from the smokestack blowing
Nightlife on Bourbon Street is jumping
Down in that Cajun Queen, New Orleans
Cathedral spires standing very tall
Off Canal, near downtown Bourbon Street
Near a hotel by a shopping mall
Where folk are getting some daytime sleep
Down in that Cajun Queen, New Orleans
They wait for night, ‘til just after dark,
To find the places of blues, jazz, and rap
A swamp of raunchy acts, joints, and bars
Folk can get caught like mice in a trap
Down in that Cajun Queen, New Orleans
It's Mardi Gras time down in New Orleans ~ it's a carnival of memes
Where the people sing and play ~ there's music in the streets, both night and day
Everybody's having fun and drinking wine ~ because it's carnival time
"Throw me something mister" as parades go by ~ that's the Mardi Gras cry
Bourbon Street is the place to be ~ if it's boobs you want to see for free
Better part of town is where many go ~ night parades led by Flambeau*
*Flambeau is the name given to men who carry torches as they lead nighttime parades. Long held New Orleans tradition.
Old timers say there’s a corner of the bayou in New Orleans
Where booby footed pelicans and pink lovebirds are seen
in a totem made along with turtle who has a needle nose
and wildly colored chameleon who is wearing clothes
At the bottom of this spirited display is a large crock
Pretending to be a piece of driftwood or a purple rock
But if you see a large red eye open, you’d best be on your way
For this giant crocodile is fierce, and he does not play.
no daily showers
typical on summer days ~
clouds have gone astray
Poor soldier Andrew Jackson who
Attacked the British after peace
Was signed three weeks before at Ghent.
Unnecessary bravery
Is no less admirable for that.
He waves to patrons eating their
Beignets at the Café Du Monde.
Astride a horse, saluting with
His bicorn hat, and stern of face,
He looks less menacing than if
They cast him brandishing a sword.
But who can blame his victory
(Redundant though his conquest was),
The English might have occupied
The Crescent City, New Orleans.
Between Lake Ponchatrain and Gulf
Of Mexico the land is boggy here.
Once rains would pelt Orleans and make
A flood enough for fetid pools.
Pine coffins bobbed and knocked aloud
Discouraging the patronage
Of all the working girls for weeks.
But that was long before the war.
And British and Americans
Were mostly buried on high ground.
So no unnecessary dead
Were ever disinterred by rains
And washed some parishes away
Without their names on coffin lids
To now or ever be reclaimed.
Doobie Doobie Doobie Doobie Doobie Doobie Do.
You can’t get my goat, I am one of a few.
I’m mellow and fun-loving, and money don’t run me.
I had a nap all day yesterday ‘til a quarter until three.
Doobie Doobie Doobie Doobie Doobie Doobie Day.
I am a beatnik from down New Orleans way.
I don’t have a penny and I don’t have a dime.
You can’t irritate me, being happy ain’t no crime.
Doobie Doobie Doobie Doobie Doobie Doobie doll.
I am as broke in the summer as I am in the fall.
Some fat cat might throw stones, but why do I care?
I strut right past that cat with my happy tail in the air.
We are heading to New Orleans she says
The Parade is exactly what we need for Dez.
Dez is a cousin who has style and flair
His enthusiastic exuberance hangs in the air
No one can control him our grandma warns
No one has to, this crowd will all swarm.
The parade is filled with costumes of all kinds.
Created from the imagination of brilliant minds.
Oranges, greens, silvers, golds, swirl and dance.
The crowd is cheering and chanting, a united prance.
Food smells of garlic, cloves, and cinnamon too
Wafting over the heads of this maniacal zoo.
Laughter and gaiety are afoot on the scene.
The wildest crowd most of us have ever seen.
Fat Tuesday and Ash Wednesday take a back seat.
Mardi Gras Parades simply cannot be beat!
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