Things I Learned in Saint Country
That
we dat
That
the tree will still be good as long as there’s underneath some water
That
the people are waterproof
That
there’s a jazz piano that plays from the inside of the weathered old opera house on Burgundy--we sat on the stoned steps, and they played for only us
That
it’s no coincidence that the sky and the ocean are the same place
That
the devil could only be as bad as what plain eyes see—everything else is God
after destruction—everything else is God–still God
That–stillness is what God’s people are made of
there were close to 2 million alligators
swimming through the city when Katrina hit
That
There are 2 million alligators still swimming through the city 15 years after Katrina hit
That
They used water as a weapon; a hit man against the tribe--but everything else was God
That
black people are handpicked by creators
black people are protected by creation
creating is in a Black person's soul
creating ways out of no way and bringing melodies out of heaven with a drumstick & feathers
That
when someone gives you, directions look for it in French with your eyes
That
If the waters couldn’t gentrify the place, the other people can’t muscle the wave
That
there’s a 15-year-old flower there that grows the color of Mid-City
opens like every colored lotus in Japan and burst to remind its people of the sun—connects the soil to the root—that makes depression impossible---that makes anxiety smile
That
everything the city lost has been recycled back into the walls of the wind
That
a trombone can be used as a walking stick
and a walking stick, an instrument for beating on their ground that bounces back like a drum
That
black boys are born directly into who they are
Before they are taught who they aren’t
That
as long as you have an instrument in your hands you don’t have a curfew
Elders are respected
Spirits have keys to the front door
That
All they care about is if you have a good liver & a good kidney
That
everything else is the small stuff & they don’t sweat the small stuff in Saint Country