By Any Means Necessary
The theme of Super Sunday was “By Any Means Necessary” – that is what the determined Mardi Gras Indians – greatly diminished post Katrina – said about keeping to their tradition and performing this year. We saw Chris Rose on the bayou, mulling around – another reminder that my “Chris Rose is Dead 2 Me” book is missing since I moved into the LaLa – and G went over to speak to Chris – we have both noticed his absence in the paper lately.
Toda,y he wrote a Times Picayune column about coming to realize New Orleans is home and he can’t leave – he’s been contemplating it. I liken it to what my neighbor put his finger on – the I can’t stand it here either, but I’m not leaving syndrome.
Everyone seems depressed lately – coping – barely treading water – when there are outbursts of joy and sudden flashes of beauty all around us every day. But people think it is New Orleans that is sinking. It’s not – there is a universal malaise right now – Darfur, Iraq, Israel – atrocities and killing and hatred thicken the air and dampen the swells of joy – it’s the old when a butterfly beats its wings in Latin America, China gets a cold – although the butterfly is beating from China these day – and Bush, our feckless leader, is a manifestation of democracy gone wrong, here, and elsewhere in the country – we need a hero – we have no visionaries – no doers – just reactionary buffoons whose fear begets fear.
Give me a place to stand and I will move the earth, Asechylus said, but he hated women, so should we usurp what a misogynist says for our mantras? My tea leaves last night said Feel Great, Act Great, and Be Great. It’s Tuesday, May 29, 2007 from the dispatches of New Orleans – almost two years post-Katrina – and I am, we are still searching for the burning bush.