My Thoughts On A Visit to New Orleans

waterlines on houses
stained where water had risen trapping and drowning people inside their homes
where people died
spray painted x’s like graffiti on people’s homes
marking where people still might be able to recover bodies or animals
perhaps still living
perhaps not
dead animals in attics

II
impromptu mini economies of resilience
and resourcefulness amidst little
schools and libraries becoming community centers
churches with broken windows still but with people singing gospel
people, families children dressed for church among demolished houses

III
and a kind stranger inviting us into our home
a cheerleader for New Orleans

IV
a lively city
people come to rebuild during the day until they can’t anymore
party at night and then back to their tents under the freeways amidst the educated and homeless
only to do it again
the next day