farewell, new orleans

Farewell my breezy New Orleans
To LA I say, 'So long'
I've had my fun
Soaked up your sun
But it's time I'm movin' on

I remember when I first walked your streets
I was down on life, confused
Livin' on the road
Had made me cold
I was lost, and sad - abused

Then I saw your tangled trees
I smelled your sugar sweet warm air
Stalked alleyways
In a ghostly daze
Felt your breeze flow through my hair

Your colors sunk beneath my skin
Your jazz coursed through my blood
My eyes burst wide
I felt alive
Breezy Norleans, I fell in love

***
The gutters of the Quarter
Run rank with puke and piss
Beads and balls
Drunks, cat calls
Through a joyous, debaucherous mist

Down on Magazine Street
You can shop, and dine, or glare
At rare antiques
In pretentious botiques
Or the many mansions fair
Or roaring down murky Frenchman
Hear the horns, piano, bass
Drink hurricanes
Dance through the flames
Stare chaos in the face

New Orleansins are crazy
With a frantic, manic glee
Moms and dads
Young handsome lads
Blacks and whites
And bums with mites
The rich, the poor
And sluts and whores
Ugly or lame
But never tame
And wild, ferocious, free

I like to smile at the crusty kids
The children of the street
I crave the madness
I taste the sadness
Of their dirty, wandering feet
I like to ramble up the river
Or stroll 'round Jackson Square
See the fading light
See the twinkling night
Fires flickering in their lair New Orleans is a painting
To the most haunted, grotesque degree
A town alive
Its magic thrives
On spirits like you and me

***

But -

All my friends have gone now
So sadly, so must I
Without my friends
The magic ends
Without an eye that's dry
The place is swamped with memory
With tales I won't forget
Sleeping under stairs
The parades, the fairs
The wondrous characters I met
But all of that is gone, now
So New Orleans, I wave adieu
You kept me well
As I passed through hell
I owe my life to you

Farewell my breezy New Orleans
To your streets I say, 'So long'
I love you
I'll miss you
I miss you
But I am movin' on