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The Louisiana Sinking Ship Parade

Welcome to the Louisiana Sinking Parade,
and may the paper mache devils of New Orleans never fade!
As we slow down to enter town,
look around before you step,
because every downed wire,
every mother crying,
every fire,
just makes a recipe for death.
All of this while an insane narrator keeps screaming 'War, Baby! War!'¯
We come running like we haven't heard it all before
and we forget what's in store at the shorelines of stars and pipelines.
It's not exactly raining toads, but we've got thousands of drowned floats
being devoured by shrimp in dirty moat.

You'd be better off to hold your breath
counting one, two,
when there's nothing left
Not Avian Flu or suicide.
Counting three, four,
not Airplanes or even Nixon spies.
Five, six,
when the body count is higher than heaven could ever be.
Seven, eight
then what you've got is something I might call beauty.


Hey, we blame it all on Rapture
not Nature.
but it's human nature to capture someone and blame the poor bastard for disaster.
Poor economic stature, not hatred.
God Forbid it rains a little bit and our own lifestyle turns to mud
but we still don't blame ourselves like we should.
We claim it's something bigger. We think it's something better.
Something we could fight over.
A piece of bread to butter.
But that's why our absence is better.
And in this muddy river, I couldn't get wetter.

So, Who's on the first float?
It's the fool,
we paint his face red.
Let him talk in southern twined tinctures to minimize the dread of his poorly pronounced words.
He points fingers at God, but won't say Allah.
He meant 'Hurricane'¯ but when he said it, we heard 'Al Queda.'¯
It's Not About War,
but when we're downtrodden.
we Believe Anything
if it means making up for our own lives we've forgotten.

I'm sorry I'm so lethargic, but I'm telling you this has all happened before.
Because prior to war there was war,
and before nature came along there was merely more nature.
It's sad when we don't really know what we're
fighting
killing
drowning
or downing alcohol for.
So maybe all this dying means something more than we know.
But when I open the door to a television screen
when I envision something of the utopia I've seen
the first float that'll float from my throat is,

Welcome! But by now, enter at your own risk!
Come on in! after hours of empty oil tirades.
I do hope your stay in our town is brisk, but
Welcome to the Louisiana Sinking Ship Parade.

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Comments  
mleder2005 Comment by: mleder2005 - 2006-05-27 05:24
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Wow just great, i love the flow throughout the poem, and just the overall quality of the writing, very.. insightful.
inviscera Comment by: inviscera - 2006-05-24 15:54
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Liked it a lot. You use rhythm and rhyme schemes very effectively in your writing. "He meant ā??Hurricaneā?¯ but when he said it, we heard ā??Al Quedaā?¯ - fantastic line.
frumpalump Comment by: frumpalump - 2006-05-24 11:06
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'Welcome! But by now, enter at your own risk!
Come on in! after hours of empty oil tirades.
I do hope your stay in our town is brisk, but
Welcome to the Louisiana Sinking Ship Parade.'

i enjoyed this. thanks.
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