Anonymous - Who Dat

WHO DAT, 
two words 
mean so much more 
than any non-neworleanian could know. 

ONE TEAM, 
who fought for something, 
something that changed the mood
of a devastated city,
and united a now unstoppable community.  

WHO DAT,
two words,
forever engraved in our hearts,
forever a part of our lives, 
forever a phenomenon.  



Anonymous, age 16

Maeve - Anticipation

I wait,
and hope that the tiny munching
of the bugs in my walls have stopped.
Standing stock still and hearing the
CRUNCH, CRUNCH, CRUNCH
of tiny demolition crews eating away at the structural integrity of my house.
But now,
I hold in my hands the poison
that will cause a vast exodus, expelling
thousands of those unwanted,
disgusting creatures from within a block radius.
My skin tingles with anticipation.
My finger is on the trigger, ready
for the mass genocide that is about to take place.
Those termites won’t know what hit them.

Maeve, age 16

Ashley - Who Dat

WHO D@T!

New Orleanians are who d@ts.

We bleed black and gold.

We play with integrity,

but we play to win.

On February 7, 2010 the Saints proved that NOLA is back;

After 43 years we have something to be proud of.

Every game night, whether Sunday, Monday, or Thursday,

our city comes together to cheer on our team.

Bless them boys for bringing pride back to our city,

for making our dome an icon.

Now we have something to be proud of,

something to cheer on.

GEAUX SAINTS!

Ashley, age 17

Lillie - Anticipation

 [ an-tis-uh-pey-shuh ]

the waiting for that moment, that one instance of aha

the anticipation is coming home, not for artificial comfort

                but for that feeling.

not exactly pinpointing what it means, but knowing it’s there.

the je ne sais quoi  c’est mon raison d’être in the background.

                the (treesonst.charles)(potholesoneverystreet)(moldingonthebalconies)(foreverpuddlesbythepark)

                                make the [ an-tis-uh-pey-shuh ] worth it.

Lillie, age 16

Ruthie - Anticipation

Sitting in the classroom with a clock stuck between 4 and 5
Thinking songs on my stereo are all I can write down
Script letters saying HELP
Scrawled.
I really do like this class
its just
Friday and I’ve got babysitting cash
and streetcar tokens
and summer season is almost over.
There’s maybe four good snowball days left
and you are crazy if you don’t think
I’m wasting my money
on Hansen’s today.

Ruthie, age 16

Courtney - Who Dat

who dat a phrase known to everyone
from new orleans
has just the right jingle when
everyone screams it at a game
or even in someones living room
alone by yourself
it all sounds the same
the anticipation oozes out of it
with every time it comes out
of our mouths
the spirit and excitement behind this phrase
is normal to locals
but to everyone else it
is something that cannot be understood

Courtney, age 16

Torre - Anticipation

Patience, anticipation

I sit quietly in my room waiting for the time to come

After so many days keeping us silently apart,

The minutes feel like hours slowly creeping by,

Hours upon hours until I can be wrapped in our warm essence and aroma

 Filled with the sweet taste of love,

I can already feel your arms around me as I make my way down Decatur Street,

Your golden brown skin glistening in the light of the brightly illuminated café;

My heart races with anticipation and zest as I see you enter

With a white powder-like cloth covering yourself,

Oh, dear Café Du Monde,

I thank thee for reuniting me with my beignet 

Torre, age 16

Ashley - Anticipation

Driving down St. Charles Avenue
Like you’ve done a million times before
Yet, this time feels different
You feel a whole new freedom
You roll down the windows and let down your hair
Like you are the cliché in a cheesy movie
You feel unstoppable
But then reality hits you
As you get closer and closer to the
Big, red light
Its inevitable stop just waiting to welcome you
Anticipating the red turning to green
The clock is ticking; the song on the radio has alreadychanged,
Your foot is hovering over the gas pedal
The guy next to you is trying to scarf down a hamburgerbefore the light turns green
While banging his head back and forth to some rap song
This light couldn’t be any longer…


Ashley, age 16

Megann - Anticipation

You pack your bags and move on out 
with your stuffed rabbit and your striped sweater
and follow that crowded street to mystery 
farther
         and farther
                         away from 
the skylight and the curved metal of the bridges
the bleach white dome and the Mississippi

you take your striped sweater and you stretch it over your eyes 
and cry on that black top road to nowhere. 

months pass and anticipation fades your second-hand foreign uniform 
your forced white tennis shoes are gray
tomorrow is homecoming day

you pack your bags and move on out
with your stuffed rabbit and your striped sweater
and follow that crowded street back 
                                                                  home. 

Megann, age 16

Leira - Anticipation

Feelings of Fall in New Orleans

What is this?

This feeling

Is it excitement?

Yes

No

Not exactlty

What is it?

The weather

Still so warm

Yet some days cool

Windy

My favorite

New Orleans is hot forever

Except in Winter

But then there is Fall

Neither fully cool

Nor fully warm

My favorite time

The season of red yellow leaves

Except our trees never change

No pretty colors

But still

Autumn in New Orleans

It is still beautiful

Maybe it isn’t the weather

It is something else

A feeling

What is this?

This feeling

Is it excitement?

No

It is Anticipation

For the leaves to never change

For Fall to come

And for the feelings that follow

Leira, age 16

Olivia - Anticipation

There’s that rare occasion of anticipation that’s actually not quite so rare anymore.

It’s the moment of hoping it will all be normal and yet wondering how it ever could be.

And breathing becomes foreign. Rhythms are shattered. Oxygen.no.longer.exists.

Because this is the difference between life and death, in a certain kind of way.

It’s the initial impact of atmosphere that will tell the rest of the story.

That will lead to either one of two endings. There is the occasional welcoming back of
circulation to all parts of the body. Or there is the expected continuation of deprivation of
security.

Although the two are so deeply different, they all end up intertwining in the end because
experience knows that one will never exist without the other soon to follow.

I hope you know that it’s not a question of want, but need. Not alive, but present. Not beside, but
with. Not me, but we.

Olivia, age 17.2109

Brittany - Anticipation

Anticipation is in the air

You can feel it in the breeze

Smell it in the air

Sense it everywhere

Cars crazy causing a traffic mania

Everyone is in a hurry

So many things to do

Food preparation

Parties to oragnize

Black and gold

WHO DAT! WHO DAT!

It’s Game Day!

Brittany, age 16

Stanley - Anticipation

As I revisit this place, I relive our pleasant memories

For it was here where we spent the years of our lives.

We watched the world go by as we danced in these fields

And it was here where we created our own paradise.

Unbeknownst to the world we navigated the arctic tundra,

We swam with all the beasts of the sea;

And even though our troubles were many

When we were here all I could think of was you and me.

In the fall we’d sit here, waiting for the sun to appear in anticipation,

We never failed to miss a sunrise any breezy autumn day

And even though the innocence of our youth fled from us,

Hands interlaced, Apollo’s chariot never failed to greet us just the same.

With church bells ringing, “Till death do we part” was a vow we later said

And I can’t help but think that isn’t true

Because even though you’re gone, and returned to dust,

When I’m here, I can feel your presence: I’m standing, right next to you.

Stanley, age 15

Matty - Who Dat

If you live here,
You’re a Who Dat.
(And I don’t mean “New Orleans, Louisiana is my place ofresidence” live here
I mean, live here, like “you cantake the girl out of New Orleans but you can’t take the New Orleans out of thegirl, this place courses through my veins, I wouldn’t touch jambalaya with a tenfoot pole if it’s from anywhere outside the great state of Louisiana” livehere. )
The owls whisper “Whoooo”
The toads rumble “Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat dat.”
The cicadas crawl out of the soil and reach out with all 6legs just to sigh “Whodatwhodatwhooodaat” in a low rumble
It’s really impossible to miss if you’re listening.
One stranger at the bar yells “WHO DAT?!” and the wholeplace erupts into a song everyone just knows the words to.
We are Who Dats because people look at us and say
               Who Datcity whose beauty can be found in Magnolia blossoms, used book stores, andtrees that make their home in the sidewalk cement?
               Who Datcity with the bright lights that never flicker, even when they’re looking eyeto eye with the storm?
               Who Datcity with the owls, and the toads, and the cicadas, and the late-night partyanimals who never stop singing?
It’s a wonderfully simple answer:  we Dat.


Matty, age 16

Amy - Anticipation

For as long as I remember,

Every June until September

Started a new hurricane season

That brought fear that exceeded all logical reason

Waiting for the news reports in anticipation,

But mostly we think nothing of the increased precipitation

The rest of the country wonders why we say we are proud to swim home,

But little do they know, this is the one city that we are proud to call our own

This is the time of year that we can only hope and pray

That our houses and levees are strong enough to withstand another day

Amy - age 17

Melissa - Anticipation

Stage Fright

I am drenched in perspiration, while flooded with anticipation.

Pulse races, hands shake.

Temperature rising, mouth dries.

I ponder the paradoxes of anxiety.

Why is it that while all of the clocks are melting, it feels as though time is freezing?

And why does the air seem to grow more and more scarce when we are wheezing?

Lights are blinding.

Sounds--deafening.

The very same lights and sounds I willingly approached,

And will continuously approach because they are my home.

When I am able to focus, however, I realize that I am alone

In front of all of these people

Although I cannot see them, I know they’re there.

I stumble saunter from the wings onto the stage

On my face, a Cheshire grin appears

From ear to ear,

And I think to myself,

God,

What am I doing here?

Melissa, age 17

Holly - Anticipation

Crowds flock the arena,
And football chants roar through the sea of people.
Anticipation builds as the New Orleans Saints prepare to take the field.

The Who Dat Nation has gone far too long without donning their game day time attire.
Their time away from the Saints has caused enthusiasm to build inside them.
Everyone is waiting…
Waiting for the whistle that will bring an end to their off season silence and mark the start of a
new season.

The whistle is blown.
Everyone is silent, cautiously waiting for the first snap of the ball.
3…2…1…
The ball is snapped.
Who Dats amplify their cheers so that the away team realizes who’s gonna run the show.

With the first scores on the board, the Who Dat Nation knows what is to come this season.
This knowing only makes their chants grow louder and louder until
the game ends.

Holly, 16

Olivia - Summer Rain

I used to play this summer game,
And it’s supposed to sound like summer rain.

Clear drops begin to hit the gutter,
When fingers slip against one another.

Battered roofs take the rap,
As the ring and thumb make a snap.

Sheets of water fall root bound,
Like pounding fists that smash the ground.

Thunder begins as the skies ignite,
While feet tread the earth with might.

Countless tears splash and resound,
Like pounding fists that smash the ground.

Torrents finally start to unwrap,
As the ring and thumb make a snap.

Showers drizzle down to a putter,
When fingers slip against one another.

All this from a summer game,
That’s supposed to sound like summer rain.

Olivia, age 17!

Amy - Summer Rain

Rain is what makes New Orleans unique

Daily surprise thunderstorms only make the city even more complete

In a constant damp summer atmosphere

It hits so hard the water is all you can hear

Other places think driving with a cluttered windshield is such a pain

But for us in New Orleans, it’s the most relaxing thing about that sweet summer rain

And how can the news say after all this rain we’re still in a drought?

They clearly have not been outside or they’d know without a doubt.

The rain boots, jackets, and colorful umbrellas abound in the mustered dark

But no storm can keep people from playing in the puddles in the park

The New Orleans rain helps make us the best city with no other above,

For its all of the unique characteristics that mold New Orleans into the city we all know and love.

Amy, Age 17

Olivia - Snowball

In New Orleans, there is no such thing as “Beating the Heat.”
Because we all know that it is a pointless battle
That will only leave us straddled
Somewhere between drowning
From the humidity that collects in our lungs with each breath
Or from the salty droplets that leak in through the corner of our dry mouths.

Living here means being broiled and braised for three-quarters of the year,
Set out on the cooling rack for the rest,
Only so that the entire cycle can start again.

This is where breakfast, lunch, and dinner are synonymous with Plum St., Hansen’s, and Sal’s.
Because we all know that a good snowball is the only remedy that can peel our melted bodies off the
sidewalk and put us back into a solid state.

And yet life carries on
In the midst of this oppressive warmth.
Notes of the Blues are still served up into the air.
Steaming spices are still playing flavors on tongues.

Because this is the City that Never Sleeps, right?
Ok, maybe not. But the Big Easy can do it too.
And so can The Crescent City, The Birthplace of Jazz, The Home of Mardi Gras.
The City that Care Forgot.

And the moment that a cool breeze finally catches in the air,
Every New Orleanian will say,
“Man, I’d pick being hot over being cold any day.”

Olivia - age 16.75