DAT WHO
It ain’t just football,
it’s the music of the dead marching
second line around the Superdome.
C’est non seulement le football,
it’s homegrown defensive
lineman and levees holding their own against
tight-collared, sweaty-necked Republicans
losing taxpayer appropriations
after betting foolishly
against N’awlins.
It ain’t just football,
it’s Saint Fats and Saint Kermit,
Saint Irma and Saint Drew,
Saint Gumbo and Saint Beignet,
Hail Mary Hallelujah
and a big pot of
Jambalaya.
C’est non seulement le football,
c’est une histoire de l’amour,
with Mardi Gras beads
punctuating touchdowns
and fourth-quarter turnarounds,
celebratory Hurricanes
made with dark rum instead
of dark clouds.
It aint just football,
she’s a City, Queen
of Voodoo and Catholicism,
vampires and alligators,
a million hearts beating with
a hunger
for red beans and rice
and faith
that flood waters
always recede.
© Bryan Borland
i love sport
love the poetry
can never bring them together
great to see you do that
Dhyan (AKA Utopain Fragments)
February 8, 2010 at 1:58 pm
Yeah it’s not my usual… but the spirit was so powerful last night as we watched a city celebrate. Thanks Dhyan!
Bryan Borland
February 8, 2010 at 5:59 pm
Why did I read all those airless newspaper stories all week about the ‘cultural impact’ of the Saints reaching the Super Bowl, when I could have waiting for it all to be over and I could read this instead?
Great, great work. And I really love the linking thing.
queerlefty
February 8, 2010 at 2:20 pm
Yeah I’m having fun with the links these days.
Thanks QL!
Bryan Borland
February 8, 2010 at 5:59 pm
All I can say to that is “Amen”.
Vic
February 8, 2010 at 3:34 pm
Word.
Bryan Borland
February 8, 2010 at 6:00 pm
You know from what you’ve read what this city means to Justin and I, so you surely know how much I love yesterday’s victory and this new piece. C’est merveilleux… maintenant, laissez les bons temps rouler!
Tel
February 8, 2010 at 3:55 pm
I added some French…. no idea if I got it right!
Bryan Borland
February 8, 2010 at 5:03 pm
Where is Val when I need her?
Bryan Borland
February 8, 2010 at 6:00 pm
If you’re saying, “It’s not just football,” then you got it right. You should probably say “a story de l’amour,” but you could also say, “c’est une histoire de l’amour” if you want the whole second sentence in French.
The irony here is that football in French means soccer.
They typically say “football américain” for our kind of football, but that’s to clunky for this, so I’d leave it as “football.
Je l’aime encore! (I still <3 !)
Tel
February 8, 2010 at 6:28 pm
DAMNZ, Tel is the new Val! Thank you!
Bryan Borland
February 8, 2010 at 9:23 pm
I studied it 10 years, got a minor, and was an exchange student in Montpellier, France… but Arcadian French is a bit different from the French I speak. I think Val told me her fam is of Arcadian descent, so she could probably give you some of that local flare.
I think this is great. It would be awesome to see the entire poem dans la française de la Louisiane
Tel
February 9, 2010 at 9:56 am
Damn! is all I have to say…
My mom was born and bread Nawlins…I did not however get my cooking from her, only my creative ability to infuse life onto the stove and page… Oh, and the French, took it in college and grew up hearing the creole cajun nawlins broken french from my mom’s family, so you did fine.
Thanks for coming over, and I love it, I got a letter! No one writes them, but me. If you notice on Jessie’s site I get kind of wordy…
Was a good game, I missed the commercials thought I was shooting a video to enter a show, and let’s just say I left them with some spicy bites, and they’ll be back for saw’m maw’r… Oh the heck with them, this is good, and my true love is writing…
Question…I am taking advice of Jessie, do you post poems you try and publish, I have removed mine this week, only will leave up a few days, then remove?
Chef E
February 8, 2010 at 6:27 pm
You’ve asked the age old blogging-poet question!! I’ve struggled with “to post or not to post” poems. Here’s my philosophy:
1. I honor every publication which is kind enough to publish my work on my acknowledgements page.
2. If a publication won’t accept a poem because it’s been posted here (for any length of time), that publication is dead to me! DEAD! Do you hear me, Oh Journal Known as “Poetry”????
3. My forthcoming book, My Life as Adam, includes about sixty-five-ish poems. About half of the poems from the book were posted here in some form at one time or another, and all but a handful have been removed from the site (because I want them to stand own their own in the context of the book). So I guess the only way I’ll remove a poem is if the poem is going into a book. If the poem is not going into a book, then it stays here.
4. My goal in writing poetry is to make people FEEL. To enhance the lives of others through my writing. To make the kid in some rural somewhere feel like he or she is not alone. Therefore, my poetry has to remain easy to find. So if a poem ends up in a journal or on a website, I’ll generally keep it here, too, but link to the site or journal that published the poem. The exception is when said poem is included in a book – and then it’s not posted here. Whew. This is hard to explain. I thought I didn’t have many rules. Turns out I do. Who knew?
5. As long as people can find my poetry, I’m a happy camper.
6. I have no hope, desire, need, ambition, or delusion of being an academic within the world of poetry, and no hope, desire, need, ambition, or delusion that I’ll pay the bills with a poetry career. Knowing this is freedom to me. Success is SEE #4.
7. Often, when I make numbered lists, I ramble and make little sense.
8. You are my new best friend. The number of best friends I can have online is infinite.
Bryan Borland
February 8, 2010 at 9:21 pm
You are funny.
That is the number one and only quality my best friends need to hang with me.
I bow to your wisdom oh friend…and you are smart, you found Chef E.
Chef E
February 8, 2010 at 10:15 pm
yet again your thoughts and this particular list
finds me in the need of it
and as always you do it with the PoeticGrin Charm..
Dhyan (AKA Utopain Fragments)
February 9, 2010 at 5:56 am
man, i wish i could write things so easily in tribute and i love how you are using the linkage. does that mean you are gonna send something to referential? i won’t say it is previously published if it is on your blog because of your awesomeness
jessiecarty
February 9, 2010 at 11:59 am
Wow. Loved this line:
and faith
that flood waters
always recede.
Sometimes you just gotta have faith. Especially when you don’t have anything else.
LaMar
February 9, 2010 at 9:29 pm