The Sweet New Orleans Song

By Melissa Plyler

Clear and sweet the jazz resounds

A kind familiar tune

The sunshine glitters on the street

In early afternoon

Soft and sweet the days go by

Forever to prolong

But it should stop, lest we forget

The sweet New Orleans Song?

Then nightfall comes and wind picks up

When once the air was still

The tree limbs bend and water swirls

Rain falling with a chill

From here and there the warnings came

The voices ever strong

‘Come,’ they said ‘and leave behind

The sweet New Orleans Song.’

The nightmare came, with no restraint

Before the sun could rise

The water raged, the torrents howled

Above all human cries

Though lonely sobs and children’s tears

Near silent carried on,

Just barely heard above the storm

The sweet New Orleans Song

Finally, though years had passed,

With daylight morning came

A town so lost and torn apart

Could never be the same

With tear-filled eyes and heavy hearts

The people move along

Soft and sad, but rising still

The sweet New Orleans Song…