LET HER   

New Orleans, Lower Garden District, ‘21

Let Her Transcript

This letter is a channeling––light spilling, 

into a tiny frame––

my perception of life at that time.    

Rue,

a demeanor,

        an encounter,

&

          the Garden District’s

way to announce

its habitat. 

  New Orlean’s ghosts linger in past, present, and future–

               whispering

                in floral tongue &

whiffs of fried food.                                                               I keep wondering…

                    This is a thing,

yet what is it?

                                                            The process of becoming,

             one person with 

something to create.


LET HER

though constance

  Today weighs in rain.

Fog–– let’s clear the lens

Star Jasmine––they smell so good.

Boarding fences,

climbing polls.

Are you open? 

To new

    discoveries?

Are you

fair?

Wind tickles 

mini white roses.

An iron fence 

creaks open.

Pooled rain glistens.

Shed a facade—

off a fallen palm.

What can be told

that one doesn’t

already know?

Water pelts off umbrella. 

Oaks also provide cover.

Roots pull up.

Wrestling with

concrete,

            accidentally–

         

  inevitably.

I don't know 

what story is written


or writing.

“It don’t matter if

the rain tries again.

Take the rest

of the day off.”

Painted chairs

& knobby 

crepe myrtle. 

Fried food

is the muse

& messes the muse... 

[tail wagging]

“This is Rue.

He’s an old man.

Can’t see.

Can't hear.

He can eat though...

 

Pick up your poop. ” 

   The sun dashing through mist.

Tell me about fluorescence– 

Acknowledgements 

Thank you to the many beings helping with this project. Bill and Missy Dalton for their home and keen appreciation to the beauty and history of New Orleans. To dad for vespa trips to Mollys, City Park, and a many po’boy & thank you to the beloved city of New Orleans.


About the author

Colleen Elizabeth Jaggi is an artist 

living in New England.

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