N.O. Song
Take a New Orleans’ night
and wrap it around you,
take the crescent river and make a crest,
take the St Charles street cars,
cabs, horse carriages,
and I'm Crazy 'Bout My Baby for your love song.
Take New Orleans' heartbeat,
write a song in chalk,
put it on your heart, let it sit,
and while you walk the streets, let it play,
hum it all day --
Sing it with a sweet New Orleans' girl.
Night Funeral in New Orleans
Night funeral
in New Orleans:
Why are there so many people in the streets this time of night?
Second line, we all hear them coming--
Open carriage with two horses pulling the body--
The band played, people danced--
They second lined for hours
Night funeral
in New Orleans:
Umbrellas spun to the beat
The procession rolled on
Poor man's friends floated for blocks--
Bright light and colorful handkerchiefs wave in the air--
If only we can all go out in this grand style.
Night funeral
in New Orleans:
God willing this is not the last we see--
Distant memories and slow breathing as the night went on--
He was a music man
He deserved a big send off--
He and his horn made money
Not much but he loved his life--
Now we celebrate it.
Night funeral
in New Orleans:
A gloomy stop in the quarter
Eyes shut in front of St. Louis Cathedral
and the horns played on
there is sorrow on the air
tears in the street
but the band played on
Voices sing:
Like a bird from prison bars has flown,
I'll fly away
That long black carriage
Street packed
Trombones sand
The bands played their sadness--
His wife mournin'
His kids celebrating
He gone but never forgotten
His soul, bond to the streets of the quarter
Night went on
Heroic end to a saintly man
That poor man
Grand funèbre.
Nuit funèbre
en la Nouvelle-Orléans.
Light Memory
I remember: As a child at Christmas time,
My granny would take me to the rich neighborhoods
where we would stare at the bright lights that adorned every
home. I would stare and wonder, how did they
get that huge Santa on the roof? I grew older and the
lights, in my eyes, grew dimmer. Now, as an adult,
I can only look and think, how high is their electric
bill?
Lady in the Alley
In the dark,
as soon as I entered the street,
I caught sight of
an old black lady sitting against
the wall in an alley
She moaned and groaned
but not in pain
In a compassionate moment,
I leaned over to help
She placed her hand on my chest
She told I carried two hearts
one of my own
one of my beloved
She sang to me
"Not even the balm of Gilead can heal my soul."
There is no remedy for a broken heart
and no patchwork to be done on a spotted soul
Her last words to be were to be quiet in the city
Someone callin' mah name
but don't answer just follow the voices
follow the voices
the voices
voices
Sunday Morning at the Bar
An incandescent churchyard
Belligerent congregation
Hoes and drunks
speak verses over drinks
Groggy deliberation
Table full of confusion
© Copyright Brandon S. Roy. All Rights Reserved.
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