New Orleans...

At times like this, I wish I could master a language... any language. So I could eloquently express how I feel about things. I would love to divulge my thoughts clearly so I could read them to myself and think "That's exactly what I wanted to say!". This blog is for me to release my thoughts, things that affect me to my bones and rattle my soul. Only days before the storm hit, I was working on a poem of New Orleans, a city that I have loved since I was a child and was totally enamored with every time I visited it. I was so pissed to hear on our local radio station here in Nashville, an insensitive DJ had a poll of whether or not the city of New Orleans should rebuild. A caller phoned and said: " Duh, like of course they should like rebuild, like, where are we gonna like have Mardi Gras next year?!" And they both laughed... as if that's all this great city had to offer...
My fondest memories are in that city. I'm not talking getting drunk and running around with beads type of memories, but rather staying at a bed and breakfast with my mother, talking in cafes at 3am, watching street performers of every sort earn their living, dancing in the street with my sisters, and discovering the rich history the city nonchalantly held in its hands. New Orleans to me is what Paris was to Josephine Baker; she was in love with the city and it understood her, I can totally relate. So many dreams have been washed away, many of mine included, and my prayer is that they are able to have better and more improved ideas and plans for themselves, not just there but in every city that was touched by the hurricane. Southerners are a resilient people. I have no reason to doubt their ability to rise above this. I can picture old Grandpas of the future in rocking chairs personifying Katrina and describing her as the "hand of God". Speaking of who they lost and how they themselves survived...God bless y'all...