“Mama’s Blues”
A poem from Baton Rouge’s new Poet Laureate, Dr. Taylor Scott
Katrina put a tree on top of our roof.
The flood of 2016 would soak
Parquetry walls rotten
Pictures drowned, journal entries erased
But that is not why the house stands gutted
Its front door: a jeering mouth
The electric stove one short away from
Catching fire in the middle of the night
Elements of words, tears, and misery
Shook the house worse than Rita did
The love escaped through the windows,
Inducing sleepless nights
And silent early mornings.
Learn more about Scott's new role as Baton Rouge Poet Laureate at artsbr.org.