All words are spelled as they are intended to depict NOLA slang. NOLA is what we natives and locals call New Orleans, LA! Even The Times-Picayune (our newspaper) has Nola.com as it's online address.
I LOVE New Orleans~
I love a snoball in August! I love a King Cake smile!
I love a funky brass band & time to enjoy it a while!
I love the French Quarter nights! I love Old Man River too!
Love the krewes & long parades & walks on the levee wit-U!
I love my Rex and Bacchus! I love that big Creole moon!
I love a nice Jazz Funeral on a sticky day in June!
I love St. Louis Cathedral! I love a Sazerac... OH...
I love a place where snow falls, once every decade or so!
I love Esplanade & Bourbon & the St. Charles streetcar line!
In the city that care forgot, I love that Royal Street sign!
I love a fresh Muffuletta! I love Lafitte and Laveau!
I love "What a Wonderful World" Sing it! OH sing it Satchmo!
Now dat my Saints won the big game, OH what a good time it has been!
Gimme BBQ shrimp & Dixie, as they all go marching in!
I love a fried oyster poboy, beignets & a good etouffee,
I love & I miss New Orleans! Much more on a day like 2day!
From A Sreetcar Named Delicious
Written in the week following Hurricane Katrina
Storm Child
Catholic candles, dripping wax,
In the attic: One strong axe.
Nana Rose was very wise...
"Keep for when the waters rise!"
On a rooftop, your first breath,
Brought our city back from death.
Never once did you dare cry,
Siren screams... your lullaby.
In the streets below we saw,
Drowning ghosts of Mardi Gras.
We prayed for HELP... you just smiled...
You are the sacred Storm Child!
Christened by the August rain,
Born amidst the hurricane,
(Her name need not be spoken,
Too many hearts were broken)
Chopper rope: Hey grab ahold...
Baby girl just hours old,
Force of nature you prevailed,
Even as the levees failed
To stop old man Pontchartrain,
Your new eyes could not see pain.
Sleeping there, your dreams ran wild...
You are the mighty Storm Child!
Of pure magic you were born,
Like music from Satchmo's horn.
May your life be filled with jazz,
All the beauty this world has,
May joie de vivre fill your soul,
May good gumbo fill your bowl.
Only sweet things lie in store...
May New Orleans thrive once more.
May the monkeys ask for you,
Down at the Audubon Zoo.
May the storms in life be mild...
For you, the bless-ed Storm Child!
You are the sacred...
You are the mighty...
You are the bless-ed...
Storm Child!
About the Author:
New Orleans, Louisiana native, Todd-Michael St. Pierre is a Cajun and Creole cookbook author whose books have been featured in the San Francisco Chronicle, The Denver Post and on AOL Food. He’s also a recipe developer for Southern Living Magazine & Cooking Light Magazine. His internationally populate cookbooks include A Confederacy of Scrumptious and Jambalaya, Crawfish Pie, File Gumbo available thru amazon.com or his website http://www.louisanaboy.com/ He is also an acclaimed children’s author of such books as Fat Tuesday and Something as Simple as Sunshine. Coming soon are a few children's titles. See http://www.louisianaboy.com/
Please see my website for info on my brand new cookbook Thinner You With A Vampire ...
its cover and info is on the home page -- the direct page for the new book is www.FaceBook.com/VampireCookbook
I adore New Orleans - wish I could visit more often.
ReplyDeleteAs for Todd Michael, I gave my neice a copy of Zinnias for her 8th birthday. TM hand wrote the dedication, which made her gasp with admiration for the nickname "Boogie", then she cried real tears when she read it and opened the little gift he included of Zinnia seeds. My Marion aka "Boogie" has read it to her class for show and tell. Then when she showed her teacher it was also written in Spanish, their little classmate who spoke Spanish as a first language read it to them again. It is truly amazingly written and the art is wonderful. Her class now has a bed of Zinnias in their window boxes.
ReplyDeleteTodd-Michael St Pierre is a perfect ambassador for Louisiana.He transforms his love for New Orleans and Louisiana through his books and poems and it goes right into the hearts of all of us who loves this unique and one of a kind place.
ReplyDeleteI have quite a number of Todd's books and my grandsons love them all. He helps me teach them the unique life I led while growing up in New Orleans. We still live there but a lot has changed and I want to pass down our unique customs and traditions. His cookbooks are great as well!! The illustrations are always first class and I love the bi-lingual books whether french/english or spanish/english. My mother was 100% Cajun and she would love the fact her great grandsons are learning Cajun French from these books.
ReplyDeleteOh yum! Your cookbooks sound great! I visited New Orleans pre-Katrina and really loved it! I like your poetry too!
ReplyDelete18 years in Nola. We got transferred two years before Katrina. My poor city! But she is rising again. Who dat say they gonna keep her down?
ReplyDeleteWe moved there back when the Saints fans called themselves ain'ts fans and wore paper bags on their heads at games. LOL!
Loved the poem. I visited New Orleans and had a great time. It's on my list of places to revisit.
ReplyDeleteA fabulous blog about one of my favorite cities. Thank you for bringing it to life again. The Gumbo Shop on St. John (I think) for daily lunch. Beignets, music all the time, the fascinating French market, the constant beat of tapping kids,Riverboat on the Mississippi, witches, vampires and voodoo, and more.
ReplyDeleteI have never been to New Orleans. Now I know I must go and visit.
ReplyDeletedebby236 at gmail dot com
Thanks Y'all... I truly appreciate it! Here a delicious recipe, I intend to share a couple of my favorites with you all!
ReplyDeletehttp://www.facebook.com/504EVER?sk=notes.