September 5, 2005

Bands and Beads

New Orleans is the city of my birth.
“Hurricane Katrina” has invaded its entire girth.
My thoughts of New Orleans make me smile and sing.
I want to share some of my favorite things.

Dixieland Jazz permeates the French Quarter.
Mardi Gras beads, parades, Kings and barter.
The Mighty Mississippi gives it a crescent shape,
Directions are uptown, downtown, riverside and lake.

On St. Charles Avenue there is a neutral ground
and streetcars.
Bourbon Street has Preservation Hall, and Oyster Bars?
Courtyards and gardens with azaleas a-bloom, and a trip to
Audubon Park: feed the ducks, read under a tree
and go to the zoo.

Walk to Tulane Stadium for the Sugar Bowl,
And eat delicious French food: a health toll.
Café au lait, beignets, pralines, gumbo and po-boys –
eat your fill,
Galatoires, Commanders Palace, Gumbo Shop
and Camellia Grill.

Crisis has two sides: Disaster is one.
New Orleans, its people, places and fun,
Has experienced the worst hurricane ever to hit,
With winds, floods, and destruction that won’t quit.

Opportunity is the other side.
Please, New Orleanians, merriment has not died.
The opportunity for all is to serve,
and to look from a different view,
And to say,
“I LOVE YOU.”

With warm regards,

Susan Sadler Hayman
International Life Transitions Coach
Call me at 662-238-7754
www.susanhayman.com

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