NEW ORLEANS--MARCH 2007

In the Airplane:

Big shaved bullet head
Sits hunched over his movie,
Staring as if blind.

New Orleans--March 2007

Feather in gray sky
Floats across the street car tracks--
Cajun radio.

Beads hang from the trees
Competing with Spanish moss.
Ghosts of Mardi Gras.

Middle of the Gulf,
Heron standing on a pile
Surveys the water.

Twisted bayou trees
Bare and black against the sky
Extend forever.

"We tear down houses"--
Sign hangs above the blank shells;
Buildings without life.

Skyscrapers ahead;
To the right, rows of rubble;
Uneven city.

Street car tracks extend--
St. Charles goes on forever
Without the street cars.

On the Way to the Airport:

Sad face in window:
Black boy stares out of school bus
Lit by rising sun.