New Orleans

12 Comments

Tags:
  • New Orleans

    New Orleans

     New Orleans...New Orleans...
    Whispers in the soul
    Like a dark and magic secret
    Harlequin masks are lifted
    Lightly on one fingertip
    Doors falling open
    At the touch of a breath
    Swallowed whole
    Beneath nocturne reverie

    And its calling...
    New Orleans...New Orleans...
    Like a chainsaw
    Deep masculine roar of want
    Chrome and steel stallions
    Mirror the black leather clad
    Lords of the next breed
    Lone wild wolf

    It calls...dreamily
    Sleepy ancient songs in the night
    Underneath velvet diamonds
    And summer toad sugar music
    And MOONS
    That set a mood for wanderlust

    New Orleans...New Orleans...
    And the rich red lips
    Of wrought iron roses
    Condescends to the wicked
    Night shades of jasmine breezes
    Blowing the mind

    And it calls...
    Like the cold wet stone gargoyle
    Whispering from the tomb ot midnight
    Like the impending silence of the old road
    Cathedral room, candelabra, chandelier
    With champagne undertow
    And WINE for blood
    Every rich and opulent night

    Where Bourbon is a rookery
    And tequila is an honest quest
    For a forgiving god
    And bars are a den-a-bin
    Church of sin

    New Orleans...New Orleans...
    Unseen
    Seems so good
    Under your hot sultry breath
    French Quarter
    Kissing

    Poem Comments

    (12)

    Please login or register

    You must be logged in or register a new account in order to
    leave comments/feedback and rate this poem.

    Login or Register

    GUSTY commented on New Orleans

    02-23-2011

    I LOVE THIS WORK COS IT MAKES OF N. ORLEANS A AN INVITING AND ATTRACTIVE SPOT FOR WE FOREIGNERS TO VISIT! YOUR WORDS ARE REALLY WELL-CHOSEN AND YOUR WORK GOLDEN! BRAVO!
    Reply to Comment

    shallenemcgrath

    02/24/2011

    Thank you Gusty

    JadedJezzabel commented on New Orleans

    02-23-2011

    As a fan of the big easy.....i must say you captured it well....bravo!!!!!!
    Reply to Comment

    shallenemcgrath

    02/24/2011

    Thank you JJ. I love the city that care forgot. I love the Cafe Du Monde, the Maple Leaf, and Algiers PT. And, and, and... so many other things.

    jeanpnkldyg commented on New Orleans

    02-22-2011

    I've never been to New Orleans, but it is images like the one you've created here that cause me to put it on my bucket list!
    Reply to Comment

    shallenemcgrath

    02/24/2011

    You absolutely gotta go -if you love music... April/May is Jazz Fest. All kinds of music. Go for sure.

    ginga commented on New Orleans

    02-22-2011

    Shallene, You have painted such an exuberant picture of New Orleans here is all it's gaudy brilliance and meretricious finery. I love how you did not skip a beat in remembering all the visuals that await the passerby. ginga
    Reply to Comment

    Hampton commented on New Orleans

    02-22-2011

    Your write is very expressive and it follows its own cadence which is very unique. Excellent.
    Reply to Comment

    shallenemcgrath

    02/24/2011

    Yeah, I really like those Jazz Rhythms. I was into breaking up the natural cadence of language for a while with onomonopia -But then I was reading out loud back then. As I came into my late 30s I became more and more interested with the page -I met a really great poet in NOLA -a graduate of Swarthmore and editor of the their lit mag for 2 years -that provided some good direction for me. I started to use more convoluted metaphors -stuff that could not be grasped when read once- thus, not meant for the microphone... meant to be read more than once -Borges became in influence. Great writing offers the reader a door in for their own interpretation... I started mixing metaphors and using archaic language to create an opening. -sort of like a tame version of Lewis Carroll. The symbolical sound and ambiguity of mean become that door for the reader to enter and project.

    To have great poets there must be great audiences too.

    Walt Whitman, American Poet (1819-1892)

    shallenemcgrath’s Poems (12)

    Title Comments Submitted
    Title Comments Submitted
    The Crooked Road 19 02/22/2011
    New Orleans 12 02/14/2011
    DAREDEVIL LOVER GIRL! 9 01/31/2011
    Lost Boys -Rewrite 1/29/11 9 01/30/2011
    Lost Boys 15 01/29/2011
    The Shirt 14 01/22/2011
    Femme Fatale` 16 01/19/2011
    Kerouac’s Shotgun 20 01/14/2011
    Even Now 14 01/09/2011
    Will O' the Whisp 17 01/04/2011
    Four o’clock watch 19 01/02/2011
    Counting Coyotes 12 01/02/2011
    Top of Page