Beautiful Dawn

A sad contemplation on New Orleans, my vacation spot.

Beautiful dawn slowly creeps into
a once majestic city.
Now mired, half covered
with the raw gumbo of
sewage, death and destruction.

Crescent City, I long to walk
your teaming streets again
through Jackson Square,
where my love and I
stopped transfixed,
by a young lady crying heartbreak
to an old Animals song.

Brilliant red skies,
brighten flooded streets,
corpses and trash piled
to a staggering height.
My heart cries out.

Beautiful City, I long
to sit under an awning,
hot coffee and crepe in hand,
and listen to the old black man,
hand crafted paper sunshade,
play his heart out
on a beat up saxophone.

Morning's light,
mourning at the sight
of ruination and nature
and man and the slow
efforts at help,
that comes too late for some.

New Orleans, I walked and breathed you.
I loved and feared you
Now I mourn and miss you.
Beautiful dawn slowly creeps into
a once majestic city.