NEW ORLEANS MY HOME
By Sallie F. Arnoult
Father of all waters and Mother River have drawn us all to this mysterious and curious place;
We’ve traversed the high seas from many distant lands to come to this strange land we’ve come to call home;
We’ve fought the elements and toiled together side by side in strife and adversity though we’ve survived the centuries;
Our joy, our pain, blood, sweat, and tears flow with Mother River that gives life and takes life in this mysterious and curious place.
Some drawn here in freedom, others delivered enslaved, while others were driven from their homeland, we’ve built this place we call home in spite of our differences.
Intermingling throughout time, commingling our personal histories like weaving a delicate tapestry,
we’ve woven our differences together in this mysterious and curious place.
We do not know where we’re going until we know where we have been,
with the ebb and flow of past sins propelling us into the future of this mysterious and curious place.
Bewitched, bewildered, beleaguered, and beguiled as we move through the tapestry of the centuries in this mysterious and curious place.
The foundation we have built upon crumbling beneath our feet and the sea slowly swallowing us up, we tread water as we move forward. Angry misguided youth ruling the streets as the Lords of Mischief and leaders turning a blind eye.