Café du Monde, New Orleans
by Michael Escoubas

It is as if
the world centers itself here
in Café du Monde, alive
with the sugary taste
of beignets and strong coffee
and the bass intoning’s
of tubas and trombones, and trumpets
screaming their high notes
to ragtime renditions of
You are My Sunshine, and Sweet Georgia Brown.

Panhandlers, artists, and street vendors
all have their space, no one
is better than anyone else–
all are welcome to ply their trade–
all welcome to try,
all welcome to thrive or fail …

here, on New Orlean’s steaming sidewalks,
the world becomes as one might want it to be:
Café du Monde, packed with tourists
the air, sweetened by jazz
and the licking of fingers
sticky with powdered sugar
and the fresh taste of warm beignets.



 

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