How do we work?

Once every few weeks a new topic will be displayed on the blog. Young people, ages 5 - 96, will submit their responses. Student writing will be posted as it is received. Know someone that would love to contribute? Pass the word.

Blog #14 Topic Choices:
Write about a place or an aspect of New Orleans that has influenced you OR use the words "Escaping the heat/to get out of the heat..." of New Orleans.

Submission Logistics: Submissions should be in response to the blog topic. Poetry and prose, up to 500 words in length, should be emailed as a Microsoft Word attachment. Emails should include author’s first name, age, and School.

Submissions can be sent to: youngneworleanswritingtogether@gmail.com
Submission due date: May 31st, 2012 @ 5pm

Friday, February 10, 2012

Emily - Mardi Gras

Today, today
The trumpets scream
And the people march
To a beating drum

There are men with flames
And precious, shining things
Strewn about
Muddied on the filthy ground

These are wild times, they say
Because the people invade the streets
So that none may leave the city
And their cries resound
And to the republic for which it stands
All hail, King of Carnival

And there are many flags
Some Fleur de Lis
Some tri-color: purple, green, and gold

And amidst the madness is you,
Like a little Dauphin, lost
In the tides of frenzied onlookers

You mount your scaffold
And you watch the people march
And a masked man looks at you straight in the eye

You raise your hands, praying to God
Hoping to grasp the tiny fortune
Which now passes fleetingly right above you

And then the strike
The sharp pain in your head
The feeling of a million beads
Making impact with your little skull
And as the tears well up in your eyes, you watch them fall to the ground

They remove your body from the scaffold
And over the shoulder of your mother
You see a young reveler
Holding your little, shining, purple bag

You extend your arm

Wrap a tiny fist around the bag
And in a wavering voice, mutter a thank you

Mardi Gras:
It’s the best of times
And it’s the worst of times

Emily, age 15
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