Author’s Note:

If you bring your own coffee when you leave town, if you believe the word “axe” is a verb, if you consider Halloween a major holiday, then these poems are for you. If you are not familiar with New Orleans some of these poems may require a little work, but give it a try. After all, for generations New Orleans poetry lovers have cheerfully dealt with cold-country images foreign to our experience. My hero, Robert Frost, sent us “frozenground swells,” a “cord of maple,” and birches bent by “ice storms.” If you need a little help ask a local, but be sure you have at least an hour to spare — you may find yourself sipping refreshment in the shaded courtyard of the Napoleon House as a friendly native explains the origin of the phrase “neutral ground.” Whoever you may be — visitor, native, friend or family — open your heart to our city and hear her declaration:

I am the Lady of the River
The city of your dreams
And I am stronger than I seem.
Stay with me.
Believe in me.
Love me.
I will be young again.

A Post-Katrina Thought: The words above were written before Hurricane Katrina did what it did to us. It has been, and continues to be, a hard time, but nothing has changed. For as long as there is civilization in North America, New Orleans will exist, and it will continue to be what it has always been — the steamy, mystic, moderately dysfunctional soul of the continent from which it grew. For better or worse, we are what we are and the words are still true: we are stronger than we seem, and we will be young again.