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Goodnight Sweet Blues
 

A blue note lingers in the hazy smoke over New Orleans
Echoing above this devastated city
That was "The Birth of the Blues”
 

I have heard it said that you must know deep sadness
To be able to sing the blues, that the heart must weep
Or the feelings won’t come through
 

I have heard lots of blues in “The Big Easy”
But now the music is sung by those who never knew
That there was such a song in their heart
 

A lone dark streetlamp stands somewhere in the French Quarter
Recalling the sounds of wild music in the streets
Of Mardi-Gras and old men laughing out loud
 

Recalling the mighty howls of the spirits
That hovered in the town and lived within her aging walls
Remembering the songs of the “Greats” that echoed there
 

“Gimme a pig foot and a bottle of beer…”
“My mama done tol' me, when I was in kneepants…”
“Nobody knows you, when you’re down and out….”
 

I can still recall the wild riffs of Dixieland Jazz
And the children dancing in the streets
Trumpets and saxophones screaming through the foggy mist
 

A plate of red beans and rice piled high beside a crawfish or two
That was food for the soul and inspiration to make music
Played to the painted-faced tourists for some pocket change and a smile
 

What will become of her, our sweet New Orleans?
How do you rebuild an atmosphere, replace a thousand spirits
How do you paint the streets with the footsteps that once walked there
 

I hear a dirge played by a hundred cornets and trombones
The slow and sad tinkling of piano keys sighing a last mournful note
Goodnight New Orleans; our dreams are sweetened by having known you
 

Sherry Gail Heim
September 3, 2005
 

Copyright © Sherry Gail Heim 2005