We collapse
Into the crevasses
On the French Quarter -
A blooming overture
With her fluttering
Voodoo pageantry & Uneven streets

I reach for your hand
Anchored by the warm bursts
Of intimacy -
Your smile mixed with
The hushed breeze of Decatur Street

We are deposited between the shoulder blades -
The spine of all hours
The hours that orbit us
In this moment -
Like the fragility of ash, fleeting -
Our hearts enchanted
We drink in the city

Her testimony
Is surreal, yet familiar
She opens
She reveals, reassures
Yet maintains
The dignity of mystery:
The secret of which
Is her pearl of beauty

We are charmed
In the corridors
Of her jaded artisans
From the brass sousaphones
To the beignets of
Cafe Du Monde

Even the rain
(which wets deeper
Than any rose can hide)
Gives rise
To the flecks of our laughter
Flowering up To the surface of our hotel

We have surrendered to her adventure
We perch where we can see
We
Agree

_________