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| top A journal of commentary, narrative and poetry about navigating through life the flameFebruary 25, 2004
Character of Days
The decisions we make each day, over time, become the character, form and personality of our life. Similarly at a community level
-- a local district, a city, or a country
-- over time develops its own a character, form and personality based on the daily decisions, spirit and actions of its leaders and citizens. It is not uncommon for writers to draw upon these character traits in a broader metaphorical or allegorical application. I wrote "Mistress of the Night" while walking through the streets of the French Quarter.
Orléans woman, you are
the laughing, bespangled,
Brassy-voiced singer of songs and incantations,
The syncopated, nimble-footed street entertainer
Tapping out five-four time for silver,
A painted player silently freeze-framing life
And mocking the hurried crowd.
You are the sultry, naked-breasted dancer
Arresting men’s eyes, a puppeteer, a string puller
And yet be-stringed by another, darker power;
Bawdy, brawling, consuming, you are a soul seducer,
Enticing with your carnivals and beads,
Cajoling every passerby to bare their innocence to you.
You beckon from every darkened doorway;
At once forbidding and arousing, you lure
Empty-hearted men with your sultry, hollow promises
And leave them with the morning-after ache
Of your loveless, lonely bed, languishing
From the wounds of your one-night stands.
Sanguinary lover, "our lady" of the night,
Faithful to your lascivious, sacred calling,
You are presiding as the mistress-reverend mother
Among your cloistered
Bourbon saints,
Dancing the sign of the cross on your
Own hedonic altar, wholly, wholly, wholly.
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Thomas Fideler
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