Marie Laveau, New Orleans Voodoo Queen

Marie Laveau was the Voodoo Queen

Untold thousands were helped by her magic

She offered cures, prosperity, and hope

To lives that were oftentimes tragic

This infant was born in the Vieux Carré 

September ten, 1801

A native Creole by birth

Her gifts were to shine in the sun

        

Her father was a plantation owner

Her mother, Marguerite, a free black

Marie was at first a hairdresser

But luring rich clients proved her knack

She learned to do voodoo from Doctor John

Mixing African and Catholic rites

Marie reached the spirits through music and dance

Rich and poor, women, men, blacks and whites

Marie had a snake she named Zombi

Voodoo rituals at Congo Square

She sold gris-gris and charms and amulets

And was known to arrange an affair

A Frenchman named Louis was her partner

Marie had fifteen children in all

One daughter was later a voodoo queen

But most died before they could crawl

Marie saw her clients at Maison Blanche

They often were wealthy white men

She offered them stunning black lovers

Who were housed in a French Quarter den

Many do view Marie Laveau as a saint

Faith healer, a midwife, a nurse

She ministered to convicts condemned to death row

Helped them ward off a hex or a curse

Marie’s home still stands on Saint Anne Street

She died there in June eighty-one

When buried in Saint Louis Cemetery 

Her life after death had begun

Smitten With "S"

When I was a stripling of ten

I went to the dentist for braces 

I woke the next day with a very strong lisp

Oh, the scorn on my schoolmates’ faces

I said “Thanta" instead of “Santa”

Or “Yeth" instead of a “Yes” 

At first I avoided all words with “S”

But soon I just spoke less and less

I met with the school speech therapist

And practiced my “Ss” for a year

Then one fine day a miracle occurred

I spoke an “S” perfectly clear

At first I couldn’t believe my ears

I tried “S”  and then “S” two times more

“S” and “S”, “S”, and “S S S S”

Each new “S”, my spirits would soar

I made up whole sentences from “S”

Like “Sing a sad song for sweet Suzy”

Or “Pass the sauce and the sassafras please” 

All those “Ss” soon made me feel woozy

Soon  my whole life was subsumed by “S”

Sinatra, Kay Starr, and Simone

Cissy Spacek was my favorite actress

Not to mention Sylvester Stallone 

I took my vacations at the seaside

And visited my Sis in Sioux City

I ate every supper at Steak ’n Shake

Their sausage and scallops are skitty

All my favorite words now begin with “S”

There’s “sugar” and “sweetheart” and “smile”

Of course there are “sappy” and “silly”

But each “S”-word adds to one’s style

Some words with “S” are amazing

“Crossstitch” has three in a row

There are seven “Ss” in “Stresslessness” 

And “Supercalifragilistic” all of us know

“S” is a toolbox for poets

Thus “strain” rhymes with “slain” and “insane” 

There is “kiss”, “hiss”, “bris”, “miss”, “bliss”, “abyss”

“S” verses run wild in my brain

“S” gets its power from its mystical shape

It curves to the left and then right 

It’s the alphabet’s version of yin and yang 

Some say “S” is the path to The Light 

My life’s been transformed by the letter “S”

It has made my existence far better

Though lately my fervor’s been slipping

Now that X is my favorite new letter

Nighthawks, by Edward Hopper (1942)

The downtown streets were empty and dark

Twelve thirty on a Saturday night

Joe’s Diner was brightly lit but stark

A refuge for nighthawks in flight

Three customers lingered at this late hour

A lone man, a middle-aged pair

The woman and man looked brittle and dour

Her scarlet red dress matched with her hair

The couple were there from the late late show

They’d seen Joan Fontaine at the Strand

The woman’s tears still continued to flow

The man found it hard to withstand

The diner was near the end of their date

But neither could find much to say

She picked at her food but she barely ate

They had waited long weeks for this day

The stranger watched the two from afar

His wife had died five years before

He knew what grief and loneliness are

Just staying alive was a chore

The counterman offered them cherry pie

He hoped that they’d leave, then he’d close

The man just shook his head with a sigh

The woman was immersed in her woes

They’d been married for thirteen up and down years

But now they’d been six months apart

Being together renewed all their fears

Both knew they could never restart

Joe’s Diner was a suitable place to end

It symbolized their loss and their plight

There might come a time when they could be a friend

But for now these hawks vanished in the night