MOSS-GREEN
Benjamin Latrobe – sounds vaguely French?
A British architect
tapped to repair, perfect
the Capitol (amid the stench
of swamp & burning). Dogged by debt
& selective smear campaigns
sets off for New Orleans
to finish big water-works his late
son Henry had so blithely begun
(cut down by yellow fever
in September). Ever-
green cypress can withstand the rain.
New Orleans doorways lead you back
in time (Edgar Degas
plein air sketches...
moss-green veneer, live-oak
with levee-wash). Mississippi
spills relentlessly
into the blue & salty
Gulf. Her sea-monstro be you & me,
O Jessie O. L’architecture
de l’Amerique c’est plain
& simple, utilitarian –
only... we’d like to see that azure
Paradis, un jour. Le bateau ivre
des pirates-frรจres, Lafitte...
en bas le bayou, sweet
Benjy. Lisez ton ombreux livre.
6.24.19
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