The Old South
errol miller
Taking the Gray Line
beyond the French Quarter
really glamorous cottages there
interesting architecture
ol’ graves laden with flowers
each smaller garden has a sign
hand-lettered in Spanish
from New Orleans
there are two ways to go
a long diagonal journey Northward
or a slow procession by motorcar
winding through the Civil War
and other stately mansions of history
open daily the Mississippi
has carved out its own grillwork
muddy and mean and sweaty
detouring via US 61 to Norco
the heart of the hunter at flood stage
fast approaching a Gothic alley
lined with oaks and fluted pillows
there is a vacant Texaco station
and tenants of a lost colony of planters
inland gulls flapping away delirious
if you must come to the Spillway
stand on the opposite bank
near the Jesuit priest waiting
for the rusty ferry-boat
on the bluffs overlooking the River
you will find a tall cypress tree
stripped of bark
exposing terra-cotta clay
and man-made ornaments
this is the Capitol
a place looking out upon
the Indians calling it ISTROUMA
here in this dark storehouse of energy
you must not ignore small details
dodging the antique bullets
of a Confederate brigade
from Morgan City
the larger elephant guns
hidden in bully-weed
exploring Audubon’s “Happy Land”
then off to Rosedown for lodging
on the right weekend in the winter
you can see the campfires of the dead
The Great River Road packed
with boomerang-shaped travelers
from moss-draped oxbow lakes
who are very close to
the beautifully landscaped
city of gold and silver
that lies just across
the alluvial levee.
