from The Philadelphia Inquirer

Refinery Deal Pays Off
(a Letter to New Orleans for New Year's Eve)

There are the dead & those who talk to the dead
through song The parade is almost here &

this is an American mirror Squint hard
to see the Ninth Ward see Two Street America

Cities are mothers that never stop raising
as long as the rhythms continue

And I will raise them up And I will raise them up
And I will ra-ai-se them up on the last day

Bayou Eagle feathers sewn into headdresses
keep the five-fifths citizen beat & burning

crude in the purified cold will be a dance called
the dirty phoenix This is American music

A new year is coming with us a dedication
Rebirth is playing our song Don’t let them steal you

We come to party we come to remember
We come to party & will not let you die

---

Frank Sherlock is the author of 13 (ixnay press), ISO (furniture press), and the forthcoming collection Ace of Diamond Satellite. He curates the Night Flag reading series & is the co-founder of PACE (Poet Activist Community Extension). He can be reached at fsherlock7@hotmail.com.
"Refinery Deal Pays Off (a Letter to New Orleans for New Year's Eve)" appeared in the Inquirer on Tuesday, December 27, 2005.